The new king of the vampires
by steamfan
Summary: Stephan Valdislav takes the throne of the King of the Vampires and his cradle guard, Nickolas Kight is smack dab in the middle of the fuss.
1. Chapter 2

Title: The new king of the vampires

Universe: This is a cross between Forever Knight and the movie Subspecies

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from either the Forever Knight television show or the Subspecies movies.

Warnings: I am taking liberties with both the Forever Knight universe and the Subspecies universe, mostly in adjusting them to work together. I do not care for the ending of the Subspecies movie, so ignore the last scene and that Michelle was bitten. In this version Radu did die and Michelle was rescued before Radu bit her.

Rating: T/PG 13

Prologue

As Michelle sat watching the bonfire that she had helped Karl to build burning the bodies of her two best friends the events of the last few days flitted through her mind. She had been thrilled to hear from Mara, her roommate from her undergraduate days informing her that she had managed to get permission for her and Lillian to come to Romania to the village of Prejnar. Prejnar was where a monastery still stood that had been the site of a mysterious defeat of an army of Turks centuries previous. The local legends claimed that the King of the Vampires, Vlad, had led his people to the army and decimated it in one night of feasting.

The next morning a volunteer from among the survivors of the Turk invasion crept out of the monastery to go for help only to find that all of the Turks were dead with bloody throats. As mythology students Michelle and Lillian had been thrilled to be allowed to come and research in the monastery library. What little Michele had read on the subject got very murky at that point but Vlad and his court ended up with the local castle to call their own and a gypsy had given the King a relic he had stolen from the Vatican in Rome, the Bloodstone which dripped the blood of all the Saints. By drinking from the Bloodstone a vampire did not have to hunt humans for their survival. Peace had come to the village. Not only were they never invaded again by an army, but they were never attacked by a vampire again; at least, not until the last few nights.

She, Mara and Lillian had been looking for information for their Ph.D.'s; instead they got caught up in the war between King Vlad's two sons. Radu, the eldest, had arrived the night before they had and in a fit of madness had murdered the king, his father. The younger son, Stephan, had come home to find the king dead and Radu in possession of the Bloodstone. Stephan had gone to his friend Karl, the caretaker of the monastery, for help. He hadn't expected to find Michele and her friends, nor had he expected to find that Radu was stalking them. It wasn't until Michele had been directly confronted with Radu that she demanded that Stephan tell her what was going on because Radu couldn't pass as human.

The fact that vampires were real (and that the man she had fallen in love with was one) had been the hardest thing for her to accept. The idea that some were good and some were evil was actually easier. Michele brushed her short dark hair out of her eyes. Radu had brought both Mara and Lillian across, that is, he made them vampires. He had also killed the old storyteller woman of the village because she was trying to get rid of them for their safety and the safety of the village and another villager she didn't know. He had nearly bitten her, but Stephan and Karl had arrived just in time. While Stephan had taken on Radu in a sword fight and won, Karl had killed Mara and Lillian. And now as the sun climbed high in the sky, she was watching her friend's bodies' burn.

She had a decision to make. Could she stay with Stephan and be to him what his mother had been to his father? Stephan had told her that his mother had been a mortal woman who had lived out her life among the vampires. Michele didn't think that it would be too bad a life to be Stephan's wife. Even after all of this, she was still very much in love with the handsome, gentle vampire, but what about her doctorate? And what about Mara and Lillian? Someone had to deal with the details, like informing their families that they were dead. What was she going to do?

Karl sat down next to Michele. "I will take care of informing the girls' families and dealing with the formalities that the government requires. What will you do now?"

"I don't know."


	2. Chapter 3

Three months later:

Stephan Vladislav, King of the Vampires, slouched in the comfortable chair in his hotel suite and watched the ancient vampire in front of him pace. Lucian, once a Roman general, was just over 2,000 years old, an age that few vampires reached. It wasn't that they aged or grew old of course merely that they grew careless. Unlike the Royal vampires, a single sunbeam could kill a vampire who started out as a mortal human. Royal vampires could endure some early morning or late evening light but the moment the sun was up, they slept.

And if they were far from their crypts and exposed to the light, they died. Other vampires could stay awake while the sun was in the sky and as long as they avoided the light they would survive. Stephan had long ago resigned himself to the fact that he had been born a vampire. What he truly regretted was that he had to take the throne. As the last King's younger son he shouldn't have had to do so.

"HOW COULD HE HAVE DARED!" Lucien roared.

"It hardly matters now. Radu killed Father and I beheaded Radu for that and for violating the treaty." The key he had found to dealing with the members of the Council of Elders was to remain calm. They, like all vampires, were a passionate bunch and someone needed to keep a cool head.

"No vampire may hunt in Prejnar," Lucien said. He stopped his pacing and faced his king. The sight was enough to enrage him once again. Stephan was merely a child, barely more than a fledgling.

Stephan nodded. "He killed two villagers and two students who were studying at the monastery before I stopped him. The students weren't so bad because he brought them across but by killing the villagers he violated the treaty. Older brother or not, I had no choice but to destroy him." He tumbled the Bloodstone around in his hands. It was the basis for the treaty with Prejnar. After his father's traveling court had feasted on an arm of invading Turks (and thus saving the village of Prejnar in the process) the villagers had given King Vlad the local castle to house his court and the Bloodstone, a stone that dripped the blood of all the Saints, to feed them. All they had asked in return was that no vampire be allowed to hunt in Prejnar ever again.

For 500 years the treaty had held. Then Radu's jealousy and madness had driven him to kill their father, King Vlad. Stephan still didn't understand how he could have done so, but the fact remained that he had. Radu had claimed the throne, the Bloodstone and proceeded to break every rule that Stephan had been taught as a child. No hunting in the village, no turning a human without their consent, take only a single bride at a time and most importantly of all, a king places his subjects welfare ahead of his own pleasure. But Radu, in spite of being the eldest son and heir, cared only for himself. He had not even informed the Council that Vlad was dead: which left the task to Stephan. In turn, that led Stephan back to the position he was in; watching Lucien pace.

"I should have never have taken Nicholas from your side. He is your cradle guard and you needed him!" Lucien was certain that Stephan wasn't telling him everything. Radu had to have made an attempt on Stephan's life as well. The elder son had gone so far as to kill his brother's mortal mother.

"I'm 300 years old, Lucien. I'm no longer a child who must be guarded and watched over every waking moment. I know that to you and the others on the Council I will always be a child but I am old enough to take care of the situation myself and I did." Lucien was about to verbally tear the boy a new hole when he realized that the look Stephan was giving him was daring him to say anything else. Lucien didn't dare cross the boy, he realized. Stephan was the king and even more importantly, he was the only Royal vampire left alive. All it would take was a single word and the Enforcers would be presenting Stephan with his head.

"You should not have had to deal with Radu alone. That was why Nicholas was made your cradle guard in the first place." Lucien sat himself down abruptly on the couch. "Very well, what is done is done. There are two mortals who know about us her in Toronto," he said moving on to Council business. "One is Dr. Lambert, who as you know figured out how to cure the Fever before it destroyed us. The other is Tracy Vetter. She is a detective with the Toronto Police Department. She is currently serving her rookie year (what ever that is) with Nicholas and Det. Skanke as her partners. She does NOT know that Nicholas is a vampire. His position means that he has been able to watch her closely.

"The vampire who revealed himself to her is Javier Vashon, the Conquistador. His master died after bringing him and his vampire twin across. He has had to fumble about without a proper education but he has done reasonably well. I believe that the reason he hasn't killed her is because he cares for her. I really don't know why he just doesn't bring her across but that's none of my business. As far as anyone can tell, neither of the ladies has broken the Code."

"I need to speak to them both." Stephan scrubbed his hand over his face. Mortal Royalty or country leaders had it easy. All they had to do was look after a single country. His subjects were spread out all over the world and they were a passionate people. The only things that held them in check were the Code (the laws that all vampires lived by) and the Enforcers. Most, those who had common sense, were scared stiff of the Enforcers. They were fanatics who were loyal only to the King and they were judge, jury and executioner for any who broke the Code. The slightest infraction often brought permanent death. They were both a serious obstacle and vital to Stephan's plans.

"Send for whoever is the current head of the Enforcers, all of the Enforcers here in the city, both ladies, Vashon, Nick and Jeannette. I want all of them here together. Send for Nick and the ladies last. I know they have mortals who would raise hell if they just disappeared for a week. The last thing I want is a media frenzy over them going missing." Stephan said.

Lucien rose to his feet, bowed to his king and left. Stephan stared at the Bloodstone and let his mind settle into the meditative state that he used to make his plans. His father had taught him that to make decisions for the entire kingdom, a king needed to divorce himself of his emotions, something Stephan could only do while meditating. This was better than he had hoped for. A female detective who not only already knew about vampire's and was obeying the Code, but was also his cradle guard's partner would make the perfect guard for his mortal lady. Because she worked with Nick she knew Natalie Lambert as well and that meant that she should have some clue about what Natalie wanted. He had to find some kind of reward to give Natalie for the cure she had found.

The Fever had been a merciless killer. No one had known how it had spread to the vampire community here in Toronto but they did know where it had come from. A medical research lab had created the virus in hopes that it would cure AIDS. It had failed to destroy the AIDS virus; instead it had attacked the genetic virus that was the cause of vampirism. The result was a virus that killed vampires and did nothing to the mortals who contracted it. It had spread like a wild fire and only Natalie had been able to stop it. She had done more than save the lives of numerous vampires here in Toronto. She had saved their race for there was no 'getting over' the Fever. If you contracted the virus, you died.

Unfortunately it seemed that only Stephan was listening to the wake up call that the Fever had been. From what he could tell no one was paying any attention to the mortal world's tech and scientific advances. Engineering a virus that would be able to wipe them out and be completely harmless to mortal humans was the worst of it; but there were other things nearly as bad. According to Aristotle, the Archivist, creating new identities for vampires when it came time to move on was getting much, much more difficult with every passing year.

And Nick had shown him how police all over the world were tracking criminals. Someone could kill in one country and move to another only to find the police in the new country were waiting. Science held the key to those advances as well. Stephan knew his people were hunters, killers. But for the most part they lived in peace with mortals now. There were very few who killed more than once a year at most. Since the medical advance of blood donations the hunting of humans for their blood had been dwindling naturally. Fewer and fewer mortals were dying at the hands of vampires every year.

Stephan was brought out of his meditative state by a gentle kiss. It was Michele, his mortal lady. He was grateful that Lucien had been so wound up in Radu's murdering of the King. That way he hadn't had to sit through a lecture on how he had to pick a mortal woman to sire a son on. He and Michele would do as they pleased, not as the Council dictated.

"How did your meeting go?" she asked. It always took Stephan a minute or two to come back from wherever it was that he went when he was thinking hard.

"Elder Lucien was furious about Radu's actions and wants my cradle guard to take up his duties again. I can't think of any reason for Nick to do that but I'm afraid that may be something I'll have to give in on. I'm the only one of my family left and that's going to make the Council very nervous." Stephan gave her a grin. "Of course they don't know about you yet."

Michelle giggled. That was the agreement that they had worked out together. Michelle would stay off the radar as far as the vampires were concerned so that she could work on her dissertation. They had stayed at Castle Vladislas while Michelle had finished her research. Now all she had to do was finish actually writing her dissertation and submit it to the university where she was a student. Once she had her doctorate (or not) then the Council would be told that she existed. Stephan had a few plans about that as well but he was being very cagy about them. "Why don't we go to the bedroom and figure out a way to get around your guard?" she said flirting.

Stephan laughed and swung her up in his arms. 'Oh how he loved this mortal!'


	3. Chapter 1

Elder Lucien LaCroix, also known among the vampire population as 'The General' knew that his favorite, and most insubordinate, son would be at his job as a homicide detective at this time of night. That meant that he would have to go down to the police precinct that Nicholas worked at to find him and talk to him. There was no way that Lucien could allow the King to not have a constant guard. He was the only Royal left and that meant that he would have a guard whether he liked it or not.

Nicholas had been Nicola deBrabrant in his mortal life. He had met LaCroix on his return to Paris in 1228 from his second tour in the Crusades. Suffering from an excess of both cynicism and a nearly crushing blow to his faith, he had been a perfect target for Lucien and his daughter, the vampiress Janette. She had seduced him and Lucien had brought him across, adding him to their family. It was a mistake that he had learned to regret in the following centuries. Now he searched for a cure and did his best to make up for the lives he had taken before his conscious had caught up with him as a homicide detective under the name of Nicholas B. Knight.

LaCroix marched into the station only to be brought up short at his first sight of Nicholas. His son was paler than usual and he looked shaky and weak. 'What had he done to himself now? One of these nights his foolish search for a nonexistent cure was going to kill him.' Lucien thought to himself. "Nicholas!" he thundered as he marched into the squad room. 'He was needed to guard the King, he couldn't be weak now!'

Nick Knight looked up to see his master bearing down on him. This could be good if he could get the ancient vampire to go along with him. "Don't worry Father, I'm fine," he said in medieval French. "My new Captain doesn't believe that the sun could make someone chronically ill. So he's been calling me in early everyday this week. I'm a little tired of it so I'm arraigning for a little time off courtesy of my condition. Do you think you could throw a little fatherly fit about my health?" To the onlookers it sounded like Nick was completely exasperated, although they couldn't follow exactly what he was saying.

Lucien, however, had known his son for nearly 800 years. He could hear the amusement in the Crusader's voice and see the twinkle in his eyes. Whoever this new mortal in his son's life was he had really annoyed Nicholas. Nicholas rarely played these sorts of games with mortals. When he did play manipulation games he was very good and as this would ensure that Nicholas had all the time he needed to guard the King, Lucien decided to help. He braced his fists on Nicholas' desk and leaned in. "Of course I can throw a fatherly fit. And with the mood I'm in I'm more than grateful to have a chance to yell."

The cops who were witnessing the confrontation couldn't believe their eyes. This man (who a few knew as the Nightcrawler, a very creepy radio show personality) was getting right into Detective Knight's personal space and yelling at him. Most wondered where he had found the balls because he obviously knew Nick and Nick wasn't nicknamed 'The Knightmare' for kicks. Knight had a terrible temper and although he had a firm grip on it, he had been known to lose it. Detective Donald Schanke, Nick's partner, was the only one that knew the Nightcrawler had more than just a passing history with his partner, although Nick wouldn't talk about it. Schanke was sure that this man and a woman named Janette down at the Raven club were the closest thing Nick had to family. Personally he thought it was more than a little sad, because he knew that neither of the two supported Nick in his calling as a police officer, a job that Nick excelled at.

"Your charge's father is dead and so is his brother. Your charge dealt with the situation. He's here and you will need to take up your duties again. Nothing can be allowed to happen to him." Lucien was certain that Nicholas would understand why he was talking around the situation. Even though they were speaking in medieval French, if too many key words were spoken, someone might figure out what their conversation was about.

Nick leaned right back, "I'm not surprised. That &&&$$!!! wasn't fit to sit at his father's feet, much less take his place. My charge will do well. He took his father's teachings to heart. Our people come first with him always."

The two growling vampires (not that anyone in the bullpen knew that they were vampires) were the center of attention and they were the only thing that could be heard. "Be that as it may, he wants to see you, the doctor and the slacker's lady friend, together, as soon as our," Lucien looked around "cops," he said in English and then went back to the French, "can be called to his presence. I don't like it but it is his call. Make arrangements." He then turned to his son's mortal partners and switched back to English, "When this fool collapses, take him to see that doctor of his. Perhaps she can beat some sense into his head." He turned around and stormed out of the bullpen, slamming the door and breaking the window in the process. He almost ran over Dr. Natalie Lambert, the city coroner, as he snarled in her direction on his way out.

"YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT!" Nick yelled and then turned back to see Schanke and the rookie they were training, Detective Tracy Vetter watching him closely. "I'M FINE!"

"Sure you are Knight," Schanke said. "You looked better when you picked me up after my car broke down the night the plane crashed." That night still gave Don Schanke the shivers. He and Captain Cohen had been scheduled to escort a bombing suspect to another city and they both should have been on that plane. But due to a flat tire, a dead cell phone battery and no one letting him use their phone (which had resulted in a two hour hike until he could find a working public phone) he had missed the flight. He hadn't even known that Captain Cohen was dead until Nick had shown up and grabbed him in a bear hug. The bomb and crash had left no survivors.

Nick switched his glare to Tracy who just shrugged. She wasn't green enough to get into this one. She'd learned a lot from the two older detectives and one of those things was when to duck when it came to Nick's temper. Pulling the strings and making sure that she was assigned to this team of detectives was the one thing that she did thank her father, the Police Commissioner for. Oh she knew that the only reason he had done it was so that she had more back up and better back up than anyone else, but they had taught her so much and they were more than willing to ignore the fact that her father was the Police Commissioner, something that few others did.

"I'm fine!" Nick insisted. He knew he wasn't. He hadn't fed in two days and the effects of the slight sunlight exposure and the lack of blood was more than evident. It was only because he had more than ample experience with starvation that he could handle what he was experiencing now. The garlic burn to the back of his neck was not helping either. He had smeared holy water over his wrists and a few other places where sunlight could have gotten to him to simulate sunburns but it was the garlic oil that was giving him the most trouble. Not that it had been part of his plans. Another detective had patted him on the neck in gesture of support against Sneed. To bad Jimmy had been eating pizza before he'd done that.

Captain Harlen Sneed, temporary captain for the 96th Homicide department, marched out of his office and up to Nick. "Who was that Knight and what was he doing here? This is a police station, not a bar room for the two of you to brawl in." Sneed had come into the captaincy of the homicide division when Capt. Reece had been shot in a gas station hold up. Reece had just been an innocent bystander but that hadn't helped the feelings of frustration of the men and women of his division. A cop being shot should be the result of something in the line of duty, not going to get gas on your way in to work. They couldn't wait until Reece recovered enough to come back.

Sneed was not a popular captain. He was the proof that the stereotype of a red neck actually did exist. He was a large beefy man with no tolerance for weakness and even less for fame chasing. Anywhere else he would have made a good captain but he was taking his opinions out on Knight. He had loudly proclaimed that he wouldn't put up with drama queens and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that it was Nick that he was going on about. Nick was the cop most of the reporters went after, mostly because he was handsome and his partner Schanke wasn't. Because they were the best detectives in the department they also got the worst cases which made for good stories as far as the media were concerned. Sneed was convinced that Nick's sun allergy was a fabrication that he had made up to get him out of coming into work whenever he was needed.

"That was my father Captain," Nick said in clipped tones. "He's convinced that working for the police will cause me to have a relapse of my condition. He's wrong. I'm fine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work." Nick stood up, and promptly collapsed.

"NICK!" several voices called and everyone rushed to his side. Sneed went to his knees and grabbed Nick by the throat to shake him, only he couldn't feel a pulse. "Doctor! I can't get a pulse!" he said to Natalie who had shoved her way to Nick's side.

Natalie dropped the files she had been delivering to the department, yanked his hand away and shoved him out of her way. "Move!" she barked. She quickly took a set of nearly nonexistent vitals. She also checked his wrists and around his neck. "His pulse is slow and irregular. Schanke, how much sun has he gotten lately?"

"He's been in early nearly every day this week," Don said worried.

"The captain has also been sending him out places where he might have gotten more," Tracy said with a vicious look at Sneed.

"Did anyone touch the back of his neck?" Natalie asked, finding an unexpected burn there. It looked like garlic exposure to her.

"I did when he came in today Doc," one of the other detectives said.

"Wash your hands after you eat, Jimmy. It looks like you had something he's allergic to on your hands," Natalie turned to Sneed. 'He's burned pretty bad. I'm taking him to the ER. Someone help me put him in his car."

Everyone offered to help and soon Natalie was buckling Nick into the backseat of the old Cadillac convertible that Nick drove. He whispered in her ear, "Tracy drives."

Natalie didn't know why the change of plans (she had been in on the faked collapse from the beginning), but no doubt it had something to do with LaCroix's visit. "Tracy, take the keys. Don, stay here and take care of things." She glared at Sneed, but Schanke didn't need the hint. Everyone knew about Nick's problems with sunlight and his other allergies. That was why the man was permanently assigned to the night shift. This was one time ole Don Schanke was going to take advantage of his connections to the Police Commission. Sneed was not going to get away with sending his partner to the hospital.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After Tracy had safely driven away from the station, Nick sat up. "Sorry about this Tracy but you weren't supposed to be in on this. There was a last minute change of plans."

"NICK?!?!?!" Tracy gasped. She was lucky she didn't run off the road, it was only her defensive driving courses that saved her.

"Sorry but Sneed was going to get me killed, so we staged a little 'hospital' time for me. Pull over when you can." Nick didn't want to tell her what he had to while she was driving. She would either wreck his car or well, she would probably wreck his car. He didn't want that to happen because he not only really liked his car, but it was the only one with a trunk big enough for him to hide in if he was caught outside by sunrise and couldn't make it to a safe place. There was no way that he was going to avoid having her pissed off at him. He'd learned that much about women in the last 800 years.

"Nick, while Sneed is the biggest jackass I've ever seen make it to captain, you just can't do that!" Tracy huffed as she pulled over.

"Yes I can because I can't tell him the real reason sunlight will kill me and I barely missed dying twice this week because of him and his bigotry." Nick turned her so that she was facing him. "Tracy, you're going to be upset with me and I don't blame you for it. I just want you to understand WHY I lied to you."

He waited until she nodded at him and then glanced back at Natalie as she hissed his name. "I'll explain in a minute Nat. Tracy, it was the best way to protect you. I'm a vampire. I'm the third oldest member of the Community here. I was the one who made sure that the Enforcers weren't called and that you and Vachon were given a chance to prove yourselves. By making sure that you didn't know, I was the one who was given the assignment to watch over you and make sure that you were following the Code. The reason I did that is because I've had a lot more experience than Vachon does with mortals who can be trusted." He nodded to Natalie.

Tracy stared at both Nick and Natalie in shock. She had learned about vampires through Vachon, when he had been the only survivor of the same airplane crash that had killed Captain Cohen. She had found him searching the wreckage for his hand and for some unknown reason; he had decided he couldn't kill her when he had found out that she was resistant to his hypnosis inspite of the fact that it was against the Code, the laws that all vampires had to live by. Mortals who found out about vampires either had to have their memories changed or they had to die. Because Vachon had done neither, both of them were being watched by the Community. He had told her that and what the consequences of talking to anyone would be. They had become friends in the months since but she had seen him hypnotize Nick and she had seen Nick drinking those awful protein drinks that Natalie had made for him. He couldn't be a vampire! Tracy shot her hand out and tried to take Nick's pulse. That only confirmed what her partner was saying.

Tracy was ready to die from embarrassment. She couldn't believe she had been so blind! Then she realized the rest of what Nick was implying; that Natalie also knew. She shot the coroner a shocked look. Natalie smiled and said, "I treat the dead and the undead. Lucky for me most of my undead patients only need things removed once in a while. I doubt that I get more than one emergency a month for removal of unwanted objects which is the most common ailment." She wondered what Tracy was going to do.

"Ok, you are in the dog house and you're really going to have to work to get out of it," she pointed at Nick. "But I do understand just why you had to do it, I would have been killed otherwise and I haven't even known about vampires for a full year yet." She glanced over at Natalie, "At least now I understand why you answer the phone 'Natalie's bed and breakfast'."

"Well, I can't say, 'Vampire ER' now, can I?" she answered. "Nick, why tell Tracy now? And what does LaCroix have to do with this?" Nat was sure that Nick's master had something to do with the timing. She didn't trust that vampire as far as her cat Sydney could throw him.

"All right, Tracy what do you know about how our government is set up?" Nick asked.

"I don't, the only thing I know is that 'The General', whoever he is, runs Toronto and the Enforcers will kill both me and Vachon if I talk."

"Alright, well we're basically set up as a monarchy. We have a king, a governing council and the oldest vampire in each community all over the world runs that community. The General is the Elder for Toronto. The Enforcers are our police/military. The throne just changed hands. The new king is very young for a vampire, he's only 300. But he's the last of the Royal family, so he's automatically assumed the throne."

"Won't someone try to take it away from him?" Natalie asked. She knew quite a few vampires were obsessed with power and with what was basically a child on the throne, that was a sure set up for a power struggle.

"No one will because Royal vampires unlike the rest of us are born as vampires. They are where we came from. The only thing most vampires are going to be doing is trying to figure out a way to either; become Stephan's best friend and try to rule through him or set him up with a mortal woman so they can take control of the next heir to the throne. You see, a Royal vampire can only have a child with a mortal. That child will always be a vampire.

"That's what LaCroix tried to do; sort of anyway. He gave me to King Vlad to be his youngest son's cradle guard. He thought that he could be the power behind the throne that way. He knew that the elder son wouldn't last as the king. Radu was mad and it showed." Nick shrugged. "Anyway, he stopped by to tell me that Stephan was now the King and that the King wanted to see all three of us. He stays at the Sutton Palace Hotel when he's in town."

"Well, I doubt it's a good idea to keep a king waiting," Tracy said and she turned around and restarted the car. "Hey Nat, he still looks awful. Do you have any blood on hand?"

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Stephan knew he shouldn't but he really found it amusing when Michelle got frustrated with her computer, mostly because she swore at it in French. Her originality was almost as good as Nicholas'. Of course, comparing the swearing ability of a lady scholar with a 13th century knight and war veteran was a bit ridiculous but they were the only two people he knew who cursed like that. "Trouble?" he asked.

"This stupid thing won't let me on the net tonight," Michelle groused. "I finished my dis and now I have to let my advisor know. The sooner I can do that the sooner I can either get my Ph.D. or not and we can get on with our lives. I hate being in limbo and having to wait." She pouted at him.

"You are so impatient!" he laughed. "We have all the time we need. I have a great deal to do with taking over from my father and I'd just as soon you take your time. The last thing I want is for the Council to start hounding us to start a family."

"Well, I don't mind practicing for that," Michelle said with a grin and a blush. "But we do have to talk about kids don't we? I mean, if we can even have kids," she trailed off thinking about all of the potential difficulties ahead of them.

"Yes, we do need to talk about it." Stephan walked over and picked her up out of her chair at the desk and brought her over to the bed. "We can have children, but they will be vampires. Unlike my mother, you will have the option of a fully informed doctor which means that there is a better chance we can have more than one child. While my mother did miscarry several times, I'm fairly certain that it was more due to my brother's meddling and her diet or lack of it at times that were the cause."

"What do you mean?" Michelle asked as she snuggled into him.

"Radu hated the idea of having any siblings. He was the only heir for centuries and although his mother seduced our father just so that she could have him, he also hated the idea of him being with anyone else. I'm sure he caused my mother more problems than the ones I know about. She miscarried three times before I was born and she never conceived again after that. When my father realized that she was pregnant with me, he went to the Council and demanded a cradle guard for me and a lady in waiting for my mother. He did that for our protection. Once Nicholas and Janette started watching over us, my mother had very few problems other than a craving for blood. But as she was a mortal, she didn't have the best of diets. Remember, she was living at Castle Vladislas, among my people. There was little food for her at times, although she never complained." Stephan paused for a moment.

"As a peasant girl three hundred years ago she would have been used to times of starvation, Stephan. As long as she had any food to eat, she would have seen it as enough," Michelle reminded him.

Stephan nodded and continued, "The Council will insist on a guard for me and I will insist that it be Nicholas. I think you'll like him, he's a rebel and of all my people I know I can trust him. I would like Janette to be one of your ladies in waiting as well, but that will be up to you. I have two other ladies in mind as well, but they are both mortal. Detective Tracy Vetter is one of Nicholas' partners on the Toronto police force. Dr. Natalie Lambert is the other. She's the medical examiner on the night shift and when a vampire needs a doctor around here, they go to her."

"Are you serious? The doctor to a group of vampires is a coroner? And what would a bunch of vampires need with a doctor anyway?" Michelle asked, barely stifling her giggles.

Stephan stilled. "It's not a funny matter Michelle. A medical research company accidentally created a virus that killed vampires but did not harm mortals. The epidemic nearly destroyed my people. Dr. Lambert is researching vampirism in search of a cure and she was able to stop the epidemic. Medically speaking she knows more about vampires than anyone on the planet. We owe her everything."

"Oh my god, that's awful! How many died?" Michelle was horrified. Vampires were effectively immortal and for any illness to be able to kill them must have caused a panic.

"Far too many, until Dr. Lambert came up with the vaccine if you contracted the Fever you died. I think all together over fifty of my people died, vampire and carouche alike."

"Then we have got to do something for her and making her one of my ladies is a good start. Now, what's a carouche?" Michelle asked.

"A vampire whose first meal was an animal or an animal that has become a vampire. They don't do very well and usually don't last very long. But inspite of that, they are still my people too."

Michelle snuggled back into Stephan's embrace. "It's not easy being a king, is it?"


	5. Chapter 13

Nick didn't bother to ask anyone at the hotel where Stephan was staying. He just led Natalie and Tracy straight to a penthouse suite and walked right in. They followed him in only to find him kneeling on one knee in front of a young man. Tracy, being a cop, automatically categorized him; white male, early twenties, black hair just too short to be called long, black eyes, very pale skin, black t-shirt under black sweater, jeans and hiking boots. This had to be King Stephan who Nick had said he had been the cradle guard for, whatever a cradle guard was.

"I thought that much formality was ridiculous when I was six and time hasn't changed my mind Nick," Stephan laughed as he drew Nick up off the floor and into his arms. "It's good to see you! But Lucien wasn't supposed to send for you until later this week. How long can you stay? I don't want to get you into trouble with your captain." Stephan wasn't aware of Reece's hospitalization and he liked the man. He had allowed Stephan to ride along with Nick and Schanke for a few nights the last time he was in Toronto running errands for his father.

Nick snickered a bit, "Reece is in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound. My current and thankfully temporary captain thinks I'm at the hospital having collapsed at work because of his actions. The last thing he'll expect is to see me anytime soon. The ladies, however only have about an hour before they need to get back or check in." Nick pulled them each forward as he introduced them.

"Dr. Natalie Lambert, Detective Tracy Vetter, this is His Majesty, King Stephan. Your Majesty, Dr. Lambert is Toronto's Chief Medical Examiner and the doctor that cured us of the Fever. Detective Vetter is the rookie that my partner, Detective Schanke and I are training. She knows about us through Javier Vachon." Stephan already knew all of this, but introductions were always formal when dealing with Royalty.

Stephan bowed to both ladies and gestured for them all to sit down. "Thank you for coming. I'll make this short and quick then so that you can get back. Detective Vetter, Doctor Lambert, both of you are in a precarious position under the Code. I want to change that because neither of you have shown even the slightest sign you are going to break it. In fact, quite the opposite is true, both of you have gone out of your way to protect our community here. I want to change your position by giving you both the option of becoming ladies in waiting to the Queen. That will make both of you members of my Court without forcing you to become vampires. With an official position you'll both be safe as long as you continue to follow the Code."

Tracy and Natalie exchanged glances, stunned at the offer. Neither had expected anything like it. "I only ask that you think about it and give me your answer before the week is up. The Council of Elders will be meeting on Saturday night and after the meeting the Enforcers will be set loose on a Purge. I would like both of you protected in someway when that happens. I don't like the Purges but they are a necessary part of how the Code works. Also Dr. Lambert, you have earned a boon for your work in finding a vaccine for the Fever. Anything you request, as long as it is within my power, will be granted to you. Think on it carefully, you only get one and you don't want to waste it."

"I will Your Majesty," Natalie said. She turned to Tracy, "We'd better go. And remember, Nick's at the loft recovering from both anaphylactic shock and first to third degree burns. The first and second degree burns are to his neck and face and the third degree burns are to his wrists and arms." She turned to Nick, "You remember that too. I predict that it will take a full week for you to recover enough strength to go back to work and the burns will take even longer to heal so be prepared to wear bandages."

"I will and Tracy, you dropped me off at the loft and I've threatened to skin you if you let anyone else drive the caddy." They smirked at each other. They both knew that he meant Schanke who was the only one brave enough to ask.

"No problem partner," Tracy said and she led the way as she and Natalie left.

The moment the door closed Nick rounded on Stephan, "Ladies in waiting to the QUEEN? Since when do we have a Queen, Stephan?"

Stephan squirmed a bit. Only Nick had the ability to make him feel like a fledgling again. "Radu murdered father and I killed him that's how I ended up in this mess. I never wanted to be king. After Radu killed father he went on a bit of a rampage in Prejnar. He outright killed two villagers and brought across two lady scholars and he wasn't the least bit interested in being subtle about it. He completely shattered the Code. The ladies were doing the original research necessary for their dissertations at Prejnar Fortress in the monastery there. There was also a third lady scholar studying at the monastery with them for the same reason. The third lady's name is Michelle and she and Karl helped me to kill Radu. She's also become my lady. We're planning on getting married after she defends her dissertation."

Nick settled down. The fact that this girl had to be a mortal, had helped to kill a mad vampire and yet still was willing to marry Stephan said a lot about her, all of it good. "Does the Council know about her yet?"

"The only member of the Council that I've talked to has been Lucien and he was so busy being pissed off about Radu that he didn't even bother to ask me if I had any candidates for a lover, much less a wife. I'm honestly hoping that she'll be pregnant before I have to tell them that she exists," Stephan admitted. "It's not like we don't want children Nick. It's just that we don't want to be ordered to have them."

"As long as you are sleeping with a mortal no one on the Council is going to say anything. They'll just assume that you're taking your responsibilities as king seriously," Nick soothed. "The same way you are already planning for the Purge."

"FINALLY!" they heard. The shout had come from one of the bedrooms.

"I think the computer let her on line," Stephan giggled. "She's been trying for hours. She's finished with her dissertation and has been trying to send an e-mail to her advisor but the computer wouldn't hook up for some reason. She's almost as original as you are when she swears at it."

"Well, let's go in and you can introduce me to your lady and my new Queen."

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Don Schanke had not only called the Commissioner, he'd also called Internal Affairs and he'd done it from his desk right in front of the entire bullpen. He was not a man to sneak around and rat out a fellow officer but he wasn't going to let Sneed get away with putting his partner in the hospital either. His phone calls got quick results and soon both a IA Investigator and the Commissioner were sitting at Knight's desk questioning him.

"Where's Tracy?" the Commissioner asked from where he sat in Nick's chair.

"She drove Nick and Dr. Lambert to the ER sir. She's not back yet. I think she'll probably stay until she knows Nick will be ok. She's a good partner to have." Schanke wasn't smoozing the man. Tracy was a good cop and he knew there was no way she'd leave her partner while it wasn't certain he would live.

"We need to get your statement Detective," the IA Investigator Jake Wheatly said.

"No problem; everyone who saw Knight go down is still here," Schanke waved his hand around at the bullpen. "We're just catching up on our paperwork until you have a chance to talk to us."

Stunned Wheatly looked around, only to see heads nodding at him from all directions from detectives and uniforms alike. 'Sneed must really have pissed these guys off,' he thought. 'Normally a division shielded their captain, they didn't hand him over on a platter. Unless what Schanke said was true and Sneed really did deliberately put Knight in the hospital.' He grew even more concerned as he escorted Schanke to an interrogation room. If Sneed really had put Knight in the hospital on purpose, then that was aggravated assault if not attempted murder depending on how severe Knight's allergies were. As Schanke gave his statement he prayed that Knight's collapse wasn't due to Sneed's actions. "Now, you said that the doctor said he was badly burned?"

Don nodded. "Yes I did. Dr. Lambert is not only the night shift forensic pathologist; she's also Knight's personal physician. Nick says that it's because she knows how to look outside the box. His condition is really rare and more importantly he trusts her both professionally and personally. She was here bringing a report on a case for one of our cases and she saw him collapse. She started working on him right away and had Detective Vetter drive them both to the ER."

"Did you see these burns?"

"Yeah I did. I saw the burns on his wrists where his sleeves had ridden up. They looked awful, and I noticed redness around his neck too." Don was kicking himself about those burns. He had known they were bad but Knight had bitten his head off when he tried to point that out. Of course, he wasn't talking literally and if what he suspected about his partner was right then he was lucky that was true. 'Don't ask, don't tell Donnie,' he reminded himself. If and when Nick was ever ready to tell him he'd be ready for it and he wouldn't say or do anything to betray his knowledge of his partner's true condition before then.

"Could the allergen Detective Jim Peck accidentally placed on his neck have caused Detective Knight's collapse?" 'Please, please let that be it! That was accidental and everyone agreed on that one!' Wheatly silently begged. No sign of his thoughts crossed his face.

"Contributed yes, caused no, I know my partner's allergies front to back," Schanke was definite on that one. "We had a case where a woman was hunting people, the more dangerous the better. She went after Knight and used me as bait. She had done her research and knew all about Knight's allergies. He used that against her by deliberately going out into the sunlight to come at her from behind. He saved my life and burned really bad. I saw the burns. He was only burned, he didn't collapse. A single slight exposure to something he's allergic to won't cause a collapse. This collapse was caused by prolonged and repeated exposure." Exposure that Sneed was responsible for he wanted to say but didn't. That would be IA's call and he wouldn't jeopardize the case by ranting.

Just then one of the uniforms stuck his head in the door to the interrogation room. "Detective Vetter's back and she's got an update on Knight."

Both Schanke and Wheatly hurried out of the room and over to the bullpen. "How is he?" Schanke asked the minute he got close.

Tracy was careful and told him exactly what Natalie had told her to say. "He's back at the loft and he's going to be ok. He was going into anaphylactic shock and they got that stabilized fairly quickly but he's not going to be coming back for at least a week. He's got first and second degree burns to his face and neck and third degree burns on his wrists and arms."

"Why didn't they keep him at the hospital?" someone wanted to know.

"DUH!" Schanke said. "The hospital's got windows and none of those metal shutters Nick has on the windows at the loft. The last thing he needs right now is more sunlight!"

"I'm glad that Detective Knight is going to be alright. Detective Vetter, I'm Internal Affairs Investigator Wheatly. I need your statement." Tracy nodded and followed him to the interrogation room. 'This was going to be a long night,' she thought.


	6. Chapter 6

Tracy had been right; it had been a long night. She had begged off when Schanke had told her he was going to go see their partner at his loft. She had an errand to run before she dropped the Caddy off there. Or at least that's what she told Schanke. The truth was she needed to make a decision about King Stephan's offer and she couldn't do that without consulting her own personal vampire. Ok, so it was more like she was his mortal than he was her vampire, but she still needed to see Vachon about this.

It was just after dawn when she reached the abandoned church where Vachon made his home. "Vachon! You'd better be here because I don't think you're going to believe this one!"

Vachon leaned out from around doorway right behind her. "What is it this time Tracy? Did you find another kill or did your father set you up on a date?" Either one was a possibility he knew.

"EEEP!" Tracy jumped, turned and swatted Vachon on the shoulder, "Would you quit that? I hate it when you sneak up on me! And no, those are the usual. This is way out there."

"First of all, yes I do have to do that. I'm a vampire, we sneak up on people. It's kind of hard to eat someone when they know you're coming," Vachon pointed out.

"You feed from a bottle most of the time Vachon. In fact the only time you don't is when someone's threatening me." Tracy pointed out.

"No point in letting my skills get rusty. So, what's up this time?" he smirked.

Tracy just shook her head. She never could resist his version of puppy eyes even when she knew he was fully capable of killing someone without a second thought. Why had she fallen in love with an immortal serial killer anyway? Oh yeah, because most of the time when he killed someone these days he was saving her from her own screw ups. "Well, tonight Nick collapsed at work and I was on my way taking him to the ER, only to find out that he's a VAMPIRE," she growled the last word at Vachon who realized just how far up the creek he was.

"And he and Natalie had staged the entire thing. Also we had an appointment with the King tonight. Did you know that Nick was the King's cradle guard? And what is a cradle guard anyway?" Tracy didn't give him a chance to answer before she was off to the next thing. "The King wanted to see me and Nat so Nick took us to see him. And he offered to make us ladies in waiting to the Queen so we'll be protected during the Purge. What's a Purge and why does the name give me the creeps? The King says he needs our answer before Saturday."

Vachon grabbed her and kissed her. It was the only way he had found to get her to stop babbling when she got like this. "Knight was cradle guard to the King? Knight was cradle guard to the younger Prince. That must mean that the King and the elder son are dead. MERDE! There's going to be a Purge. There hasn't been one of those for nearly a thousand years, not since Vlad took the throne." He stared off into the darkness of the church. This was not good. The last Purge had killed all of the orphan vampires. Vlad hadn't liked the idea of orphans, vampires without masters to teach them the Code.

"Hey, you still haven't told me what a Purge is," Tracy poked him in the chest. "And what is a cradle guard? And what about the lady in waiting thing?" 

"When a new King takes the throne, he has the Enforcers kill off anyone who he doesn't want to live. I mean, Vlad killed off orphans and those who killed children. That's what a Purge is. When the King orders certain types of vampires purged from our society." Vachon began pacing. "A Royal vampire isn't brought across, they're born vampires. While they are babies and small children they are incredibly vulnerable. A cradle guard is a vampire who guards the child from the moment the King becomes aware that his mortal Queen in pregnant. Their mothers are always mortal."

"So King Stephan has a mortal Queen and he wants us to hang out with her while he has the Enforcers go on a rampage killing everyone that he doesn't like?" Tracy couldn't believe it. That nice young man, well vampire, was going to go and pass out death sentences on his own people. Then again, he had said that he didn't like the Purges and he was only going to do it because it was part of how the Code worked. "How are Purges part of the Code?"

"Purges are used when something big is going to happen and those killed are those who cannot make the adjustment to the changes that are made to the Code because of whatever is going to happen. As for King Stephan I haven't heard that the Prince had become the King and I certainly haven't heard anything about him having a mortal bride!" Vachon thought about it for a moment. If the new king was going as far as offering Tracy a position in his court, then she had better take him up on it, especially before a Purge. Otherwise it was likely that they both would fall to the Purge. They were both seriously walking the line as it was.

"I think that you had either better take him up on becoming a lady in waiting or you'd better let me bring you across. I don't think we'll survive otherwise." Vachon didn't like being so blunt, but sometimes with Tracy he had to be.

"Well, I'm not ready to become a vampire just yet." It was the first time Tracy had admitted that she had been thinking of crossing over. It wasn't like she hadn't been confronted with the idea before but it had not been her idea. This time she was confronted with it being her choice and to her surprise, she was finding that it wasn't such a scary thing.

"Then I guess you're going to become a lady in waiting," Vachon said. He pulled her up the stairs to the room where he slept. "And I guess I'd better get used to being part of the court as well."

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Schanke rode up in the elevator to Nick's loft, nervous that Nick wasn't going to be ok inspite of everything that he'd been told. Natalie had come by the station after Tracy had gotten back and had repeated what Tracy had said. Nick was going to be fine and would be out for a week. But he just had to see his partner for himself.

He wasn't expecting to walk in and find a coffin. Nick sacked out on the couch with bandages on his wrists, yes, a coffin, no. "Ah, partner, I know you get a little depressed sometimes, but a coffin?" he joked. If this was one of those don't ask, don't tell things, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Nick smirked. "Don't worry Schanke, it's not mine. It belongs to a friend of mine. I'm just storing it for him while he's in town. You remember Stephan? He did a ride along with us last year."

"Yeah, I remember him. Nice kid," Don said. He was glad that Nick had a somewhat believable reason for the coffin. Although he wouldn't have pegged Stephan as a Goth. The kid did have the coloring for it though.

"Yeah he is. The coffin is a family heirloom and he's been having it restored. Even though it's never been used in an actual burial, it does need to be repaired every few decades or so."

"If you say so, partner. Well, I thought I'd drop by and see how you were doing and give you the update of what's going on down at the precinct." Schanke parked himself down on the couch beside Nick as Nick moved into a more upright position. "Sneed has been suspended, without pay, pending the outcome of the IA investigation. Our old buddy Stonetree has been called in to act as temporary captain in the meantime. You are hereby ordered to rest and get well. The kid and I have our caseload covered, so you are not to worry about anything do you hear me?" Schanke looked sternly at Nick. "I know you'll be worried about us being out there on our own but we'll be fine."

Nick grimaced. Schanke knew him too well after only a few years as partners. His own master wouldn't have known that he'd be worried about his mortal partners until Nick had driven him to distraction and they'd had at least one fight about the matter. "I can't help it Don. I promised Myra that I'd make sure you came home every night. I intend to keep that promise and I can't do that from a sick bed."

"You get out of that bed before Nat lets you up and you'll have Myra to deal with my friend. And let me tell you, she is not someone you want to cross when she gets upset. She'll be feeding you chicken soup and fluffing your pillow and hovering. There will be lots of hovering to make sure that you follow doctor's orders. Trust me, its easier to do it right the first time and not get her worried. You remember the time I got shot and ended up on light duty? She drove me up the wall!" As much as Schanke was cracking jokes, he was also serious and Nick knew it. Myra Schanke could have made a serious Jewish mother look like an amateur when she got going.

"All right I promise. I'll follow Nat's orders. Sheesh, sic Myra on me, that's a serious threat." Nick would follow Nat's orders, but they wouldn't be what Schanke was thinking. Her orders had been to stay away from the steer blood and stick with the blood from the Bloodstone. She didn't think it would undo the progress they had made and it had the double benefit of not being imbued with the emotions of the donor which was the biggest trouble Nick had with real human blood.

"Good, then I'm on my way home and I promise that as long as you're following orders I won't sic Myra on you. I'll even stop by every morning with the kid and we'll go over our cases so you can keep up, deal?"

"Deal," Nick said.


	7. Chapter 7

A boon; Natalie Lambert, forensic pathologist and night shift coroner, had a boon from the King of the Vampires. Taken at face value that was silly, taken as part of her life it was a measure at how far she had come since she had met a certain sun light challenged homicide detective. A boon meant that she could ask for anything in the world and she would probably get it. The sheer number of possibilities was enough to make her head spin. "What am I going to ask for Sydney?" Natalie asked her grey fluffy cat. She already knew that she would take King Stephan up on his offer to make her a lady in waiting. Becoming a part of the Court of the Vampires would grant her protection and offer her more opportunities for her research, not something she was going to turn down. But did she dare ask for what she really wanted?

She reached over to the top drawer of her night stand and took out a small tape from a personal voice recorder. It had come from the pvr she used for work. She always carried it with a blank tape in side her purse just in case something came up even when she was off duty. That was why she'd had it with her that Valentines Day. She had gotten a romantic invitation to dinner. She had thought she would be meeting with Nick but it turned out the invitation had come from LaCroix, Nick's ancient master.

Meeting LaCroix in the restaurant instead of Nick had scared Natalie badly, but not out of her wits. Not only had she held her own in the ensuing conversation with the ancient vampire, she had also turned on her pvr so that Nick would be able to hear what had happened when he found her body. There was no doubt in her mind that LaCroix would make sure that Nick would be the first one to find her body. She had feared not only for her own life, but the pain LaCroix would cause Nick by killing her. They had only just admitted that they were in love with each other and to have that snatched away just as it got started would cause Nick untold pain. The pvr had recorded the entire conversation between her and LaCroix and more importantly to her, between LaCroix and Nick.

Empirical evidence; because of the tape neither of the two vampires had been able to hypnotize her into forgetting that night inspite of the drugs LaCroix had given her in her drink. She had never let on to either one that she remembered everything about that night. Nick had put on an incredible performance to save her life and she wouldn't let him down. But she did remember and the memory broke her heart. Nick was trapped into an agreement that had saved his sister's life; not only from becoming a vampire but from becoming LaCroix's slave. Natalie knew that LaCroix's ideas of family hadn't changed in 2,000 years. In love or not, Fleur would have been little better off than a body slave. That was what Nick had saved her from.

But the cost was centuries of torment, subtle and not so subtle abuse from LaCroix. She wanted so much to save Nick from him but the only way she knew to break the hold a master vampire had over his children was for the master to die or for the 'child' to be cured. They had tried for years, and Nick had tried for a century longer than that and they still were only in the first stages of finding a cure. Could she really ask for LaCroix's life? She was a doctor. Yes, she treated the dead and the undead, but she was still a healer, not a killer. But it wasn't just redemption that Nick was seeking in his quest for mortality. He was also seeking an escape LaCroix. The third option, suicide, just wasn't an option for Nick.

And it wasn't just Nick she had to consider. What about Janette? The owner of the Raven club had been delirious when Natalie had given her the vaccine for the Fever, delirious enough that Natalie now knew far more about Janette's past than she had ever wanted too. While her life now was far better than it had been while she was a mortal, she dared not defy her master any more than her 'brother'. How many times had LaCroix ripped her from a life she was just getting happy in? Natalie didn't know. What she did know was that even after a thousand years; Janette was still terrified that she'd loose what she had worked so hard to build. No, when it came right down to it they both would be better off without LaCroix. And if she had to become a murderer to set free the man she loved and a woman she was beginning to consider a friend, then so be it. Decision made, she settled down to sleep.

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Michelle hadn't liked the idea of Stephan moving his coffin over to Nick's loft but that was the compromise that the two vampires had come up with. While Nick was off work, he would take up his duties as Stephan's guard but he would be very circumspect and only be visible while Stephan was in meetings. Once the meetings were over, he'd disappear so that Stephan could spend time with her unless they went out. Then he would follow at a distance. But during the day, Stephan would sleep over at Nick's so that Nick could guard over him in comfort.

Unlike the hotel Nick's loft was set up so that no matter if Nick was sleeping or not, sunlight could not get into the building. She would have insisted on sleeping over as well if it wasn't for the fact that Nick didn't have a guest room. There was no way she was going to sleep in another vampire's bed. That was something that she had promised herself. She had slept with Stephan in his father's coffin while they were still at Castle Vladislas, just to figure out if she could do it. She had managed, although she had slept a lot less than he had, naturally. His crypt here was too small to share though. So she was stuck sleeping at the hotel while Stephan stayed at Nick's.

Once Nick was back on duty, Stephan would be busy by night at the Raven, a club where he would be surrounded by vampires, from Enforcers to the Council of the Elders. And during the day, he would once again sleep at Nick's. She was hoping that during that time she would be involved in defending her dissertation. She didn't think the two of them would get much time alone while Nick was at work. So she planned to make the most of the time they did have.

She hadn't missed how nervous Stephan was when he mentioned both the Council and her in the same sentence. She might be an American and have grown up in a democracy without Royalty but she was also a folklorist. She knew the pressures a single king faced from his people, even a king that still had the traditional absolute power that Stephan had. He was under a tremendous amount of pressure to both fully take over his father's position as king and to produce his own heir in case of disaster. And if he didn't produce an heir quickly it would be an even bigger disaster because he had no relatives at all to become his heir. He wasn't just the last member of his family left alive; he was the last Royal vampire. There were no distant cousins in some hidden woodpile.

So it was up to her. After a morning of sleeping in until noon, she had plans for a shopping trip. She had been charting her cycle for the last three months and this would be the week she was fertile. Her first stop was going to be Fredrick's of Hollywood and she had a few other stops in mind as well. After all, it wouldn't be nice for Stephan to have to do all of that intense take over being king stuff without something to look forward to.


	8. Chapter 8

Before Stephan had left Nick's loft to head back to his hotel and his meetings there, both Tracy and Natalie had shown up and accepted his offer to make them ladies in waiting. Natalie had then requested a private meeting to explain what she wanted as her boon. He had sent Nick on ahead to the hotel and Tracy on her way to her work so that he could grant Natalie the privacy she asked for. After they had left Natalie had played her tape for him; including Nick's tearful confession of how much he did love her and how he couldn't let her die at LaCroix's hands.

"I want you to free Nick and Janette from LaCroix. They should not have to put up with this sort of thing. I know LaCroix arranged for Nick to kill women he's loved before. He made the agreement but he refuses to play by its spirit. He uses it to torment Nick over and over again. Janette is only a little better off. She's 1,000 years old but she still has to obey his slightest whim. Please break the bond of Master and Child between Lucien LaCroix and Nick Knight and Janette DuCharme. That is what I ask as my boon, freedom for them from their master."

Stephan had learned enough about the doctor to realize just how difficult this request was for her and why. She wanted freedom for her friend and the man she loved, but she did not want to kill anyone. And if LaCroix died from her request she would see herself as a murder. But it was something she was willing to do as long as they were granted release from their master.

'Why did this mean so much to her?' he wondered as he landed on the balcony of his hotel suite. 'If it was only because she loved Nick and wanted him free to love her then she would not have included Janette in her request.' He barely took notice of the note that Michelle had left for him telling him that she knew he would be busy all evening so she was going out to run errands and would be back after midnight.

'She kept saying freedom. That seems to be the key. She wants them to be free of LaCroix's demands and his right to abuse them.' Although fledgling/child abuse was frowned on, it wasn't against the Code and most likely never would be. He had far too radical a change to ram through the Code to do anything about that.

He noted that someone had done some subtle rearranging to the furniture in the main room of his suite. It now resembled a throne room as closely as it was going to get. Nick was standing behind and to one side of the only chair in the room. And kneeling before it was every Enforcer in the city. It was a much larger group than normal. Every Enforcer was bound to the king by a fledgling bond, no matter who had actually brought him or her across. They had all felt his father's death and had only been waiting for the call to pledge themselves to the new king.

Stephan had prepared himself for this moment, feeding heavily from the Bloodstone. This was his first true act as King. He handed Nick his coat and sat down in the chair. He was wearing his t-shirt instead of one of his usual sweaters so that his arms would be bare. He stretched them out and placed his wrists in the waiting hands of the Enforcers. He didn't so much as twitch as one by one each Enforcer fed from him. As they did so, Stephan forged the fledgling bonds and he learned that not only were these all the Enforcers in the city, they were all the Enforcers left.

The rest had walked into the sunrise rather than serve Radu. It was only this group that had faith that Stephan would be able to take the throne from his mad brother. It was a humbling experience for Stephan. These people weren't just loyal to him because he was the king; they were loyal because they believed in him. It also gave him the idea of how to grant Natalie's request without killing LaCroix.

This was one of the marks of the king, to be able to snap fledgling bonds and forge them with someone who already had an active fledgling bond with someone else. But more than Enforcers had fledgling bonds with the king. The Royal Guard did as well. There hadn't been a need for a Royal Guard since his grandfather's time, but with so few Enforcers creating Royal Guardsmen would ensure that the Enforcers would focus on their jobs and not on protecting him.

It would also let Lucien live if he chose Nick and Janette as Guardsmen. They were a logical choice as they had been his and his mother's protectors when he had been a child. He could kill several birds with one stone by doing this. Lucien would be in his debt, he would gain the guards that he wanted, he would be granting Natalie's boon and he would be able to teach Nick the things that LaCroix hadn't; which was something that had chaffed at him for centuries. For now though, it was time to get to work. When the last Enforcer finished feeding, he turned to the Captain of the Enforcers, "Demitri, bring me the Archivist."

Aristotle was nervous. It wasn't as though he didn't know young Stephan. 'King Stephan, he's the King now!' he reminded himself. But he didn't know what Stephan had in mind for the Purge. Purges were nervous times for all vampires, even those who had what would normally be secure positions like him. He stood up as Demitri walked out of the King's suite and gestured him in.

He walked into the suite and knelt at King Stephan's feet next to Demitri. He could see that the young king was as pale as death. With as many Enforcers as there were in the room if the boy had fed and bonded with them all, it was amazing that he could even sit upright. "Aristotle, have you completed the census that my father commanded?"

"Yes sire, it is here," he held up the briefcase that held both a laptop and a series of disks.

"Demitri, how many times have we come close to being discovered in the last decade?"

"One thousand, five hundred and fifty eight times Your Majesty."

"You all know that your work has increased every year, but I don't think you have all known the extent of the problem. We are averaging ten times a month that a vampire comes close to being discovered or actually is discovered. It is no longer a question of keeping our race a secret. The question is when will we be discovered by the entire mortal world?" Stephan paused to let that settle into their minds.

"When it happens it must be we who control it. It must be under our terms, not the mortals. The worst has already happened. They already know how to destroy us and now they have a new weapon, the Fever. It would not take much for them to design another virus that will kill us all. Dr. Lambert saved us and it is her research that has provided us with a way to control how the mortals see us. To the mortal world vampirism will be nothing more than, under the proper conditions, a highly contagious genetic virus. By making our people something that they can understand and most importantly feel slightly superior to, they will have no reason to start the hunts once more.

"Do not misunderstand me. I personally couldn't care less what they think of us, but the welfare of my people come first. We will be discovered and I must take every advantage I can to make sure that my people survive this situation. When the mortals discover us there will be no place to hide. Their new technologies will see to that. That means The Code must change and you must Purge our people of those that will cause me more problems with the mortals than I can handle. I must do every thing I can to prevent the wide scale hunting of our people by the mortals.

"The Archive is now open to the Council of Elders, the Captain of the Enforcers, the Captain of the Royal Guard and me. Demitri, Aristotle take the census and find those who are mad, those who cannot stop killing, those who torture or torment mortals in ways that break the mortals laws and those who cannot live in peace with mortals. You have four nights. At the first hour of Sunday, the Purge begins."

"Dismissed," Nick snapped and the Enforcers left, dragging Aristotle with them. "All right, Stephan. You need to feed and lay flat for a while. Up you go," he said as he carried Stephan to the bedroom.

"Michelle will be back soon," Stephan muttered. Nick laid the exhausted vampire on the queen sized bed. Stephan hadn't been the only one to prepare for tonight. He knew that the Bloodstone would not be enough to help Stephan recover from the blood loss binding the Enforcers to him had caused. Stephan would need a large volume of blood and Nick had brought a case from LaCroix's personal supply to the hotel. While it was admittedly a petty jab at his master, Nick also knew that it was the best blood available and he would give his king nothing less.

Swiftly he uncorked a bottle and set it beside the bed. Then he climbed in behind Stephan and pulled him into a reclining position against Nick's chest. From there it was an easy task to carefully dribble blood into Stephan's mouth. It wasn't long before Stephan was draining the bottle in large gulps. "Easy, Stephan, easy," Nick soothed. "It's not going anywhere."

"You can drink slowly when you've been nearly drained dry," Stephan griped but he did take more time with the second bottle and the third. Then he heard the door to the suite open. "Michelle, she's back. Let me up! I don't want her to see me like this!" Stephan hissed at Nick.

"Stop that! You still haven't had enough blood and you need to spend the rest of the night resting." 'Or at least that's what I'm going to tell anyone who tries to see him for the rest of the night,' Nick told himself. He knew what Michelle had planned and he was going to make sure that they had both the time and the privacy they needed. He would also make sure that Stephan didn't make a stupid mistake by not drinking enough blood to replace what he had lost.

"Stephan, I'm sorry I'm late," Michelle trailed to a stop when she was Stephan and Nick on the bed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," Stephan insisted. But he was still weak enough that Nick had no trouble holding him down.

"He will be fine my lady. He just needs to replace the blood he lost bonding with the Enforcers tonight. I'll make sure that the two of you get plenty of time to, rest before sunrise." Nick handed Stephan another bottle. "Make sure he drinks all of this tonight my lady."

Michelle caught both the slight pause and wink Nick gave her from behind Stephan's head. 'So they were going to be, resting, while Stephan recovered,' she thought. 'At least Nick was far more subtle than Lillian had been.' She remembered the time her friend had simply blurted out to their friend Mara that she and Michelle would leave her and her boyfriend alone so they could have sex. "I'll make sure he has plenty," she simply said. Nick eased out from behind Stephan, bowed to them both and left.

"I don't need to be coddled," Stephan grumbled.

"Of course you don't," Michelle agreed and then held up one of the bags her shopping was in. "But perhaps you could drink your blood while I try on what I bought?" Seeing the label, Stephan quickly agreed.


	9. Chapter 9

It was three in the morning when Michelle finally fell asleep. Stephan watched her sleep as he dressed, she had surprised him. When she'd told him she was going shopping he'd no idea she meant to shop for lingerie. It made sense though when he thought about it. She had been traveling on a research trip when they'd met, not a romantic one. She'd been dressed for practicality. Toronto was the first big city they'd stopped in once they'd left Prejnar. She'd been also been buried in either her research or her dissertation until now.

Stephan gently kissed her cheek and left the bedroom. He had about three hours before sunrise. And that meant that he could accomplish one more task tonight. "Nicholas," he said formally. Nick was reading on the couch and looked up when Stephan said his name. "Call your sister Janette and have her come to the suite now."

Nick frowned but pulled out his cell phone. He didn't know what Stephan wanted with Janette, but it was obvious that it was the King that wanted her. And when the King of the Vampires wanted to see a certain vampire, that vampire had better show up. He just hoped she wasn't busy.

Janette had been waiting for her brother's call. LaCroix had warned her that the King wished to see her and would send for her when he was ready. She left the Raven immediately and flew directly to his hotel. When she arrived, Stephan ordered them both to kneel in front of him as he sat in the chair that had, for now, become his throne. "For her work in curing the Fever I granted Dr. Lambert a boon. What she has chosen is for the two of you to be freed of your bond to your master. I know the sort of man Lucien is. I've watched how he has treated both of you and I agree with Dr. Lambert, both of you do deserve better. Janette, give me your wrist."

Janette was shocked and worried but handed over her wrist as he commanded. Stephan first drank from her and then had her drink from him. As they exchanged blood, Stephan snapped her bond to Lucien and reforged it stronger to himself. With the bond came her memories of her master. Stephan swiftly searched through them to discover what lessons Lucien had failed to teach her. As he had feared, Janette had faired no better than her brother at the hands of their master. There were several large gaps in her education.

Stephan then held out his hand for Nick's wrist and repeated the procedure. The horrors that LaCroix had visited upon his 'favorite' son were worse than he had anticipated. Dr. Lambert had been right about LaCroix making certain that Nick killed those he loved, and Nick, like the men of his own family, tended to fall in love with mortal women. What Stephan considered to be the worst was that it was easy to insure that a mortal woman survived, rather than died. All a vampire had to do was to make sure that their lover was bitten in a muscle area before things got too far along. The instinct to bite at climax would also direct the vampire to the spot that was already bleeding.

"Lucien has neglected to teach both of you certain things. For you Janette, most of these things are not vital for you to know but they are things you should have learned. For you Nick, some of these same things are vital. Without these lessons, your life has been much harder than it has to be. Now both of you listen to me," Stephan said. He instructed them both on the techniques needed to shut out other vampires from their minds and watched as they both quickly mastered the technique. It didn't take either of them as long as it would have if they had been fledglings. An hour later they were both proficient enough that he was satisfied they would not be subjected to another vampire's thoughts without their knowledge and consent. It would also allow them to know things that he did not wish anyone else to know. Being a king meant that there were few people he could confide in. Both their new ability and their bond with him meant that Nick and Janette were now among those few.

"Janette, come here please." Stephan led her to the bedroom where Michelle was sleeping. "Dr. Lambert wanted your freedom. The best I can do is to give you the duty of guarding my lady. As she is a mortal, your duties will not last very long. She is a scholar, and the only duty you have is to see that no one harms her." Janette nodded, that was a light duty indeed. "This is your only duty and purpose in the Royal Guard. The rest of your life is yours to do with as you please."

Stephan turned to Nick. "Nicholas, you are now the Captain of the Royal Guard. I will be your primary responsibility. For right now, however I need you to stay at your job as a detective. When the time comes, you will be an example and an important one. But for now, I just need you to be with me when I'm in meetings and during the day. Nick?" Stephan was startled at Nick's appearance. He hadn't moved from where he had knelt as he had put Stephan's lessons to use.

"All I can hear is silence," Nick whispered. "For so long, I've lived in a battlefield. But now there is only silence."

It was then that Stephan finally understood. He had always known that Nick broadcast his emotions loudly, but he had thought (as had most people who met the Crusader) that it was only because his was an extremely passionate nature, even for a vampire. But that wasn't the case, Nick broadcast so loudly because he was so strong. And the stronger a vampire could broadcast, the sharper his 'hearing' was. Nick must have been inundated on a nightly basis every time he got even remotely close to another vampire. How could have Lucien missed this? How could he have taken such a chance with Nick's sanity? It was no wonder the man sought a cure; it was probably the only way he could see to live and not go insane!

Stephan explained Nick's situation to Janette and asked her to take Michelle to Nick's loft. "He needs you near him right now, Janette and the hotel isn't set up to accommodate all of us during the day. I'll take Nick." Putting words into action they headed for the loft. They arrived just before sunup. Janette put Michelle on Nick's couch and went and got blankets and a pillow off of Nick's bed for her. Stephan lowered Nick to the floor beside his coffin. "Nick, can you hear me?"

"I hear you Stephan. Thanks for taking care of things right now. I'm afraid I need to get used to this before I can be of much use," Nick whispered.

"Don't worry about it. You'll adjust quickly. But the sun is almost up and I must sleep now. Good day my oldest friend. I'm pleased that I was able to help you so," Stephan whispered as well. Then he climbed into his coffin to sleep. Janette settled the blankets over Michelle and placed the pillow under her head. Then she sat down next to Nick and leaned into him.

She and Nick had shared a passionate romance but it had eventually burned itself out. Not that they couldn't bring fires from the embers if she tried she knew. But what they had now was even better than the romance had been. Nicola would always be her knight defender and her confidant. She would always need that more than she needed a lover.

When Natalie entered the loft she wasn't sure what to expect. Would Nick be angry with her? Would he be sad, happy? There was no telling how he would react. LaCroix had been abusive and victims of abuse were often conflicted over their abusers and as far as she could see Nick was very much conflicted in what he felt for LaCroix. She found Nick leaning against Janette, both of them on the floor up against a coffin. Janette was watching a sleeping figure on the couch and Nick had his head tilted back and seemed to be listening to something that Natalie couldn't hear.

Janette turned so suddenly to face the elevator that Nat wasn't sure she'd seen the vampiress move. She stood up and moving quickly, threw her arms around the startled mortal. "Thank you, doctor for not asking for LaCroix's head! This is so much better for us, especially Nicola!" she exclaimed in a whisper. "I never truly understood why he was the way he is before. Now I understand that he could hear so much more than I. It is no wonder he never enjoyed being part of a Community and wished to be mortal again. I'm surprised the noise did not drive him mad."

"What noise?" Natalie asked in confusion. She had managed to catch that Stephan had found a way to give Nick and Janette their freedom from LaCroix without killing him (something that she was grateful for) but Janette's talk of noise threw her for a loop.

Janette swore delicately in French. "Of course you do not know. Come, sit with us and I will explain." She gently pulled Natalie over and sat her down next to Nick. Then she sat down on Natalie's other side. "Has Nicola explained that one vampire can sense another even if they do not share a blood bond?"

"Yes," Natalie said quietly. She didn't know why they were whispering but she would follow Janette's lead. "A blood bond is the bond between vampire family members or those who share their blood with each other. The more often they share blood, the stronger the bond is."

"Yes, but for Nicola it is more than that. For most of us sensing each other is something we must learn, another skill we must have to survive. But Nicola is so strong that he senses everyone all the time. That is why he found it so difficult to sense just one vampire when he was a fledgling. How do you pick out a single voice in a crowd? He could not. Only if we were away from a Community could he do it. That is why he has never been happy when surrounded by his own kind. That is why he has always sought the company of mortals. He cannot hear them."

Nick chuckled, he could tell that Natalie was still confused, and of course Janette would dismiss his religious beliefs out of hand. "When you asked for us to be freed from our fledgling bonds to LaCroix, Stephan knew that you didn't want to kill anyone but would accept it if that was what it took. So he chose to make Janette and I members of the Royal Guard. The Guard are like the Enforcers, bound only to the King. Stephan then taught us how to block out other vampires, something that LaCroix never bothered to do." He pulled Natalie into a hug. "Thank you for the silence Nat. You have no idea how much it helps."

He wasn't going to tell her what he had begun to suspect; that a good portion of his mood swings hadn't been completely his, but that whatever he had been feeling had been amplified by others. Time would tell if his suspicions were correct. He knew, however, that his temper was solely his own. That was something that hadn't changed from his mortal life when he had become a vampire. He had just become better at controlling it.


	10. Chapter 10

Schanke and Tracy were making their scheduled stop at Nick's before heading home. They had great news. Schanke was practically dancing as he opened the elevator door. "Hey guys!" he called as he burst into the room. "We've got great news! The best news ever!" Tracy was grinning as she followed the senior detective into the room.

"Hey, keep it down will ya?" Michelle grumbled from the couch.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there. I'm Don Schanke. Tracy and I are Nick's partners on the force," Schanke held out his hand to the young woman who had been sleeping on the couch. He was too excited to calm down and be embarrassed over waking her up.

"Michelle, and this had better be really good news detective, or I may just feed you to my fiancé." Michelle knew that Stephan wouldn't really eat the nice detective that was Nick's partner, he liked him too much. But the small threat made her feel better. She was too tired right now to be nice and polite.

"Well, you know that Nick's out on sick leave and there is an IA investigation about it?" Schanke turned to Nick who hadn't moved from his position on the floor. "Sneed confessed. It was all deliberate and he said it was because he didn't believe that your allergy was real. Lots of guys down at the precinct on days talked to IA too. Heck, even Miller down in Records came in voluntarily, and admitted that although he was giving you a hard time he and the guys down there had done what they could to minimize the sun exposure you got by coming over to the door so that you didn't have to go into the room because of all of the windows."

"They also said that most of what you were being ordered to do was stuff that didn't have to be done immediately. There was no reason to call you in early. I told them that most of the paper shuffling was supposed to be my job, after all I'm the rookie here!" Tracy added.

"And that's not the best part of all! You'll never guess!" Schanke was so excited he was literally vibrating in place.

"The world's best polka group will be performing at Sneed's trial?"

"No, Nat that can't be it. Elvis came out of hiding and is playing at my welcome back party, right Schank?" Nick teased.

Schanke took their teasing with grace. "Better, the powers that be got Stonetree to come in and take Sneed's place while Reece is recovering!"

"That's great!" "Wonderful!" Nick and Natalie exclaimed. They had both missed working with the large Native American captain. He had been the one to team up Schanke with Nick in the first place. It was under his command that they had become the best detective team on the Toronto police force.

"Yeah, they felt that it was best under the circumstances for someone who had already worked with Nick and that Nick trusted to take over the department. That's why they pulled in Stonetree. He's worked with you the longest of all the captains on the force." Delighted he stood there bouncing and grinning so hard it looked like his face was about to snap in two.

"It looks like today is the day for good news isn't it?" Natalie said, looking at Nick. Did he want her to say anything? Schanke was the only one here who didn't know about vampires but he did know that LaCroix was Nick's father and he had approached her before worried about the emotional abuse he feared the man was heaping on Nick. Nick nodded slightly. He would trust Natalie's judgment on what should and should not be told.

"There's more good news. LaCroix is now under a restraining order. That little blow up of his in the department had repercussions too. I just hope it slaps some sense into his head about what he was doing to his children."

"I thought he was worried about Nick's health? I mean, I know I don't like Mr. CreepyCrawly, but I gotta admit, Nick was sick." Schanke said.

"You don't yell at someone for being sick and you don't belittle the job they love Schanke," Natalie said from experience. "That's abuse, plain and simple. Someone understood what they were yelling at each other and got a judge on Nick and Janette's side. LaCroix won't be able order them around for a while at any rate."

Janette stared at Schanke in shock. She knew of the 'argument' that the two mortals were talking about. She'd have been scared stiff if she had been in that room. There was nothing scarier than her former master when he was upset and this mere mortal had been there and still had the audacity to call him by that name? Finally she gave in to all of the shocks that had hit her that night. "Mr. CreepyCrawly," she sniggered and then couldn't stop laughing. "You called The General, 'Mr. CreepyCrawly'!"

"Well he is," Schanke protested, laughing along with her.

"Nicola, I finally understand why you like this man! I would have never believed it if I hadn't heard it with my own ears! Mr. CreepyCrawly!" Janette subsided into giggles. That set Nick off as well.

"Ok you two, it's late and you need to get some sleep. You're both getting punch drunk. Tracy, would you help me get Janette upstairs?" Natalie asked. Tracy nodded and helped Natalie pick Janette up off the floor.

"My lady has to come too! I must guard her!" Janette insisted.

"Ok, she'll come too," Tracy soothed and shot Michelle a pleading look. Michelle sighed and got off the couch. It seemed that she wasn't going to get any more sleep.

Nick and Schanke watched as they led Janette up the stairs. "Well partner, I'm supposed to ask if you want to do any computer work from here but I think the doc would have my guts for garters. When you start to go stir crazy for lack of stuff to do around here, let me know. Fortunately things are really slow right now. We only had one new case come in, an H and S, pretty cut and dry.

Schanke pulled out the notebook that was common to all detectives from his coat pocket. "Helen Mitchell, age nineteen, worked at Delmar's Coffee and Snack House over on eighth and pine streets. She was dating a Gary Voigt for about; get this, six days before she broke up with him." Schanke shook his head. He knew it didn't take long for someone to get obsessed, but six days???? "According to her roommate Helen was an old fashioned girl and wasn't into sleeping around. That's why most of the guys she dated didn't last very long. They'd start wanting to jump into the sack and she'd break it off. Even for her though, Voigt was short term. She told the roommate that something about him was starting to creep her out which was why she broke up with him.

"Anyway, Voigt doesn't get the message and starts harassing her. Unfortunately, he doesn't do anything that we can pin on him and he walks. After he gets out of the harassment charge he goes over to the coffee shop and finds her flirting with a customer, one Larry Sheaffer. It wasn't anything big or dramatic, the other waitress says they all do it and she was more low key than most of them. But Voigt takes exception, pulls out a gun," Schanke looked up from his notes, "We're still working on where he got the gun. And he proceeds to shout out the usual, 'You can't have her, she's mine! If I can't have her no one can!' and shoots her, Sheaffer and himself. Mitchell and Voigt died on scene, Larry Sheaffer is in critical at the hospital." Schanke shook his head at the waste.

"You're right, that does sound cut and dry." Nick paused for a moment to consider the tragedy. "I hope that Mr. Sheaffer recovers."

"He should, he got medical help right away and while the wounds were serious it didn't take long to patch him back together. Right now they're just making sure he doesn't get an infection or something. Well, I gotta go; Myra's expecting me home for breakfast."

"Thanks for the good news Schanke. I really needed to hear that."

"Any time partner, any time, Hostalabyebye!" Schanke smiled on his way out. One of these days Nick was going to trust him with the truth, he knew it. Either that or he was going to have to tell Nick because Janette had almost blown her cover right then and there. He'd actually seen her fangs for a second when she was laughing at him. Ok, so calling some probably very old, and very mean vampire a name wasn't very smart but when it got his partner and his 'sister' (yeah and he was the king of Egypt!) to laugh it was worth it. They were both far too serious. And he was just the guy to get them to lighten up.

Nick heard Michelle promise to stay with Janette up in his room and decided to move to the couch. Today hadn't been exhausting for just Janette. He'd had his share of topsy turvy moments as well. He settled in and once more listened to the sound of the silence. He had missed this. He hadn't known just how much he had missed it.


	11. Chapter 11

Up in Nick's bedroom Janette was trying to get Michelle to get into Nick's king sized bed with her to no avail. "Just go to sleep. I promise I won't go anywhere. You brought my laptop and I have some work I need to do."

"Very well, my lady," Janette yawned. The truth was she was exhausted. There had been way too much turning her world upside down tonight for her. "I can't remember if I introduced you, but this is Doctor Natalie Lambert. She cured us of the Fever." And with that Janette was asleep.

Natalie smiled at Janette. She had gotten closer to the vampiress after the Fever. Not as close as she was to Nick, of course, but slowly they were becoming friends. It helped that they were both more worried about Nick than they were about each other. As far as she was concerned what would be, would be when it came to Nick and Janette's relationship. If Nick needed Janette for something that she couldn't give him, then she was grateful that Janette was willing to give it to him.

"You threatened to feed Schanke to your fiancé? You wouldn't happen to mean King Stephan would you?" Natalie said more than asked.

"I've had about three hours sleep. Besides, I know Stephan wouldn't really eat him. Personally, I'm not sure whether it was having Radu as an older brother or growing up with a mortal mother but he kind of freaks at the thought of actually drinking from a person, well feeding anyway. He doesn't seem to have any problem with biting." Michelle blushed and rubbed her shoulder.

"Let me see," Natalie said switching to doctor mode.

Michelle sat down on a stool and bared her shoulder for the doctor. "Stephan says that you know more about vampires medically than any one in the world. Do you know anything about pregnancy? Stephan said that his mother had a normal pregnancy except that she had a craving for blood. We're trying to start a family."

"Are you kidding? It took me three years to get Nick to tell me that a male vampire can't climax without taking blood from his partner and even then he wouldn't look at me for a week afterwards. If I want a blood sample, or a skin sample no problem, but if I actually asked him for a semen sample I think he'd actually spontaneously combust. There are times when it is very clear that he's still a thirteenth century knight." Natalie laughed as she examined the bite marks on Michelle's shoulder. "I do know that Nick was told he was sterile and there has been more than one vampire that has told me and I quote 'Vampires and mortals don't play house. Either the mortal ends up dead or a fledgling.' Personally I have some serious doubts about that seeing as how Royal vampires are born rather than brought across."

Michelle thought about the things that she and Stephan had discussed before becoming lovers. "I think it has to do with several different things. First is that Royal vampires are born and that means that their blood is supposed to be more pure or something. All vampires descend from the Royal family in one way or another. Another is that they have more control, even as fledglings because they grow up as vampires. They learn control as small children. Well, most of them do. I'm not sure that Radu ever learned that lesson. Also, Stephan told me that fresh blood wins over hidden blood every time. That's why he bites me before we get started."

"The King has an older brother?" Tracy asked from where she sat on the end of the bed. She had her own reasons for being curious about the subject of Royal vampires versus regular ones.

"He did until just over three months ago. They were half brothers. Radu was permanently warped both physically and mentally. He murdered their father and then went on a killing spree. Karl, one of Stephan's mortal friends, and I helped Stephan kill Radu. Well, ok I was more of the damsel in distress than helpful but Radu and the two fledglings he made did end up dead." Michelle didn't want to talk about the fact that those fledglings had been her friends.

"I've done the whole damsel in distress thing too where vampires are concerned," Tracy said with sympathy.

"I don't see anything wrong with the bite mark. I'll need to take a blood sample to see how much of the virus is in your blood. As for a pregnancy, as long as you don't have any problems with infertility and he doesn't take too much blood I don't see any problems. How long have the two of you been trying to get pregnant?" Natalie asked. It seemed to her that more and more of her patients had vampire related problems. If this kept up, she just might have to cut down on her hours in the morgue. Not that she wanted to do that, but there were only so many hours in the night.

"We've been lovers for almost three months now, but we've only just really started trying for a baby. Stephan told me that you found a virus but he didn't say much about it other than it was genetic." Michelle was wondering just how much of this virus was in her and if it really mattered.

"The cause of vampirism is a viral nucleotide that attaches itself to a person's RNA. The damned thing is a persistent son of a gun but it only takes hold of a person if both a certain level of the virus is present and there is a large amount of blood lost. If both of those things happen it becomes extremely contagious. I only found it last year. I must admit, I'd love to get a sample from his majesty, all kinds of samples to be honest," Natalie grinned. "I don't suppose you could persuade him for me?" she asked felicitously.

"What do you mean it's persistent?" Michelle asked. Tracy nodded as she wanted to know as well.

"I've been trying to find a cure for the virus. Nick doesn't want to be a vampire any more. Or at least he didn't while he was still bound to LaCroix. Considering how the man abused him for nearly eight centuries, I'm not surprised." Natalie sighed and sat down on the bed next to Tracy. "He may not feel the same way anymore but the truth is I'm hooked on the puzzle. Now that I know what the physical cause is, I will find a cure, one way or another, even if I have to give up the sun to keep working on it. Even if no one else wants it, it is a solution to those who survive a vampire attack with too much of the virus in their systems. Give them the cure and they won't become hunters. It will be just another assault that needs to be treated." She didn't speak of the other reason why she would give up the sun. That was still between her and Nick, if he decided that now they could be together or not she'd deal with it.

"Vachon told me about Hunters. Anything that keeps their numbers down is a good idea in my book," Tracy said. "And it's not like I can't understand where they're coming from. I mean, it must be really horrible to be caught half way between being a vampire and being mortal."

"Exactly, and I'm sure that Nick isn't the only child being abused, excuse me, WAS being abused by his master. I'd like to be able to give them an option as well." Natalie said. It was good to have a goal in life. It was just that sometimes the sheer absurdity of it hit her. She was a forensic pathologist who was researching a cure for vampirism.

Michelle giggled, "You do realize just what we're talking about right?"

"Oh god, yes, sometimes it just really hits me about how unbelievable all of this is. We're talking about vampires, real live or undead if you prefer that description, vampires." Tracy said. "I mean, I'm a homicide cop. That's about as practical an occupation as you can get and here I am talking about vampires and sitting not two feet from a sleeping one." She gestured at Janette's sleeping form.

"I know what you mean. For all that I'm a folklorist; I tend to be a very practical person. If I hadn't come face to face with Radu, I don't think I'd have ever believed. How did the two of you find out about vampires being real?" Michelle asked.

Tracy started with her story, "I was checking out a make shift morgue that held the bodies of the victims of an airplane bombing. Vachon was one of the passengers and he was poking around looking for his hand. I found him and well, for some reason he decided not to kill me. We've been friends ever since, that was about eight months ago."

Natalie smiled, "I was working on my birthday when the body of a man who had tried to stop a robbery came in. The robber had thrown a pipe bomb in the guy's face for his trouble. Nick woke up on me and then I found out later that he was a homicide detective. We ended up working together not only on trying to find a cure but professionally as well. That was five years ago."

"Five years!" they both exclaimed.

"And the two of you are still claiming to be 'just friends'?" Tracy exclaimed. "Come on, you can't tell me that there isn't something more between you and Nick."

Natalie sighed. If there was anyone who could understand what she was going through it would be these two. She grabbed her courage and confessed. "When Nick was a fledgling he bargained for his sister's life with LaCroix. He would let her live only if when one day Nick fell in love with a mortal woman her life would belong to him. Not only do we have problems with Nick loosing control but if LaCroix had found out before his majesty had broken the fledgling bond between Nick and LaCroix I'd be dead. Now, the status quo is gone and I have no idea what's going to happen now." Natalie admitted. "I don't know if he wants to try to have a relationship with me or what. I'll just have to wait and see."

Tracy reached over and hugged Natalie. "There is no doubt he's going to want to have a relationship with you Nat. And if that thick as two bricks partner of mine doesn't take advantage of this Schanke and I will both gang up on him. We'll even get Myra in on it!" she promised.

"I'll help too." Michelle promised. They put their heads together and started to plan.


	12. Chapter 12

Lucien LaCroix was furious and every vampire in the city knew it. Even he couldn't contain the rage that echoed through the ability of the vampires to sense one another. It was all he could do to control himself physically. The King had taken both of his favored children from him and had given him no explanation as to why. When he had gone to demand a reason, Nicholas had not even allowed him to see the King. He had turned him away. Him, one of the Elders of the Council! Nicholas had told him that the King would see him when he met with the Council of Elders and not before.

"It is the right of the King to claim any vampire he wishes Lucien. You know this," Elder Ari said.

"Yes, but to take both my favored children without so much as an explanation is not something I can except quietly!" he hissed.

"But I don't owe you an explanation Lucien." Stephan stood in the doorway of the backroom at the Raven. This was where the Council was meeting with the King. Lucien's rage was so great, and the other Elders were so strong, that the only customers out front were mortal. Every other vampire in the city had cleared out. "And even if I did, you should have figured out at least a few of the reasons why I chose Nicholas and Janette without my telling you."

Stephan strode to the head of the table and sat down, with Nicholas shadowing him every step of the way. "Nicholas and Janette are now Royal Guards, Nicholas for myself and Janette for my mortal lady, just as she was for my mother."

"Well, that explains it," one Elder, a short Chinese woman, muttered. The Elder next to her jabbed her in the ribs.

"There are other reasons of course," Stephan continued smoothly, as though he hadn't heard and seen the by play. "The Enforcers will begin the Purge tonight. This way they need not concern themselves with my safety nor that of my lady's." He turned hard eyes onto Lucien. "It also allowed me to save your life, Lucien."

"WHAT????!" the cry came from all of the Elders except LaCroix. "That mortal doctor!" he hissed.

"She wanted your head Lucien! Be grateful that what she asked for was Janette and Nicholas' release from you. You brought this upon yourself. She does not have the full story of what you have done to your 'favored children' over the centuries but I do. You almost drove Nicholas mad! How could you have refused to teach him to shield himself when you must have known how strong he is? He has been bombarded from the moment he crossed over!" Stephan didn't have to fake his fury.

"There was no need," Lucien began only to be interrupted by Stephan.

"I have only one thing to say about that Lucien, Gregory!" he snapped. That silenced everyone. They had all been present when Gregory had come to court. His master had been not much older than Stephan was now but he had not taught his first fledgling how to shield. Once they had arrived at court Gregory hadn't lasted long and he had taken out the last of the Royal Guard in his attempt to stop his torment.

"I did not realize he was that strong," LaCroix whispered.

"You never bothered to look you mean," Stephan snapped. He took a deep breath and continued, "Our debt to Dr. Lambert as a nation is now repaid. She and Detective Tracy Vetter, one of Nicholas' partners on the police force have both agreed to become ladies in waiting to my lady. Dr. Lambert will be able to care for her better than any midwife from Prejnar and Detective Vetter will be able to protect her during the day.

"Do any of you have any business you wish to bring to my attention?" he asked changing the subject.

"James Grannis wishes to establish a new Community," Elder Annittas began.

"Where and who are the locals?" Stephan asked. The next few hours were taken up with similar tasks, determining the general placement of new Communities, the planning of new refuges, the Archive being open to the Council, and Stephan's announcement that Castle Vladislas would be rebuilt.

"Are you going to turn the entire reconstruction over to mortals?" Elder Mari asked.

"No, Lucien, who knows more about Castles than anyone else, will supervise the reconstruction. Lucien, see to it that all of the crypts and coffins are removed to the Prejnar Fortress before the mortals begin. Karl will show you where they are to be stored. A coffin isn't going to cause any comments in a monastery," Stephan instructed.

Lucien nodded. His temper had cooled a great deal when he had learned just what the 'good' doctor had wanted and why. That Nicholas was as strong as Gregory had been had never crossed his mind but now that the idea had he could see how so much of his son's frustrating behavior was similar to that of the doomed fledgling. Of course, the fact that they had spent so much time in areas with low vampire populations had built up Nicholas' tolerance. It was probably the only thing that had kept him from greeting the sun. And now the King was giving him an important assignment. There would have to be modifications to the old ruins to ensure that the mortal woman lived long enough to bear his King a child.

"Majesty, it's midnight," Nick said.

Stephan nodded to him and turned to the Council. "The Purge begins," he said simply and left with Nick trailing along behind him. The Council looked around and wondered who among them would still be there when they met again.

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"So much for a slow week," Schanke muttered as he held up the crime scene tape for Tracy. From midnight on it was like homicide was the new national sport, or at least reporting it was. They had yet to find a single corpse. There were reports coming in from all over that some kind of crazies were running around staking people, chopping their heads off, and one report claimed that man was set on fire. He just hoped Nick and Janette weren't on someone's hit list. 'Now if it was Mr. CreepyCrawly I wouldn't mind,' he thought to himself.

He supposed he ought to include Tracy's snitch if he was praying. He knew the guy had to be a vampire if the looks he and Knight had been shooting each other behind Tracy's back were any indication and he had been helpful. "Did anyone find a corpse this time?!" Schanke called out annoyed.

"Yep! And this one's a doozy Detective," the uniform said. "We also got a witness but she isn't talking. In fact, she refuses to say anything. I mean she won't even open her mouth."

"Great just what we needed, a witness that we're not even sure is a witness," he shook his head. He walked through a bunch of trees to a small clearing in the park. To one side crouched a young woman staring at the body, she was curled into herself and completely ignoring the uniform standing next to her. In the middle of the clearing the body of a tall man lay, staked multiple times to the ground. There were wooden stakes in his arms, legs and in multiple places in his body, most noticeably right where his heart should be.

"Tracy, take the witness, maybe she needs a woman's touch. I'll take the body." Tracy nodded and Schanke went over to where Natalie was examining the body. "What have we got Nat?" He really didn't want it to be what he thought it was. The last thing he wanted around was some loony tunes who were randomly hunting down people they thought were vampires. His own little bunch of blood drinking creatures of the night might be in danger. 'And Myra and Jenny would kill him if anything happened to Uncle Nick!' Schanke thought.

"Damned if I know what to make of it, Schanke. He's been staked multiple times and I'm not sure that it was just with the wood stakes," she pointed to the flesh surrounding the wood. "That looks to me to be some kind of corrosive. I'll know more when we get this guy back to the lab. It's going to be a hell of a job getting him off the ground though. Those stakes went all the way through and into the ground."

"Oh man, oh man, oh man," Schanke just shook his head. "I want these guys Nat. It would be just our luck for these nut cases to go after Nick."

"Don't even think that Donald Schanke!" Natalie hissed. She knew who was behind the killing and most likely why. This had to be part of the Purge that Nick and Stephan had told her was coming. She had to get this one back to the lab before the sun came up and toasted the corpse. The last thing they needed was to get that on tape!

Later at the morgue, she was very careful not to remove any of the stakes in the body. Whoever this was he hadn't just been part of the Purge, he had provoked the Enforcers into a real rage. "Natalie?" Tracy said as she poked her head into autopsy room. Natalie turned and waved her in. "Well, what are we going to do now?"

"Well, this one wasn't supposed to be found. What ever he did he really pissed off some Enforcers. Usually they just stake, decapitate or set someone on fire, they don't do things like this all the time," Natalie said. "I think he was supposed to be finally burned in the sun. Contact Nick, and let him know where all of the evidence is. The Enforcers did this, so they have to clean it up. I'll put Mr. Soon to be Toast into drawer 15. I think I'll have other customers to do first," she said.

Tracy nodded with understanding and took off, pulling out her cell phone. This was more than a slightly dangerous situation. If they couldn't get a handle on the evidence, make it disappear or something, the existence of vampires could be confirmed and that would be a disaster for everyone.


	13. Chapter 5

Stephan wasn't pleased with the news that Tracy had given them, but he had known that it was going to happen sooner or later. Dead bodies were getting harder and harder to hide and that was the entire point behind the Purge. He addressed the Enforcer kneeling in front of him as the rest of the Enforcers (and Nick) looked on. "Curtis, this cannot be dealt with in the normal manner. There are too many witnesses to the discovery of the body that you left behind. Another way must be found to deal with the problem of having a staked vampire lying in the morgue." He sighed and rubbed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair.

"Feds," Nick said from behind his chair. The Enforcers and Stephan all looked at him. "Federal agents are the bane of local law enforcement. I'm sure that Aristotle can come up with legal documents saying that a pair of Enforcers are federal agents and that they are taking over the case and that all of the evidence and files must be released to them. It doesn't happen often but it does happen enough that the department will be cussing them out but they won't stop them or question their right to do it."

The Enforcers simply stared at him in shock. It had never occurred to them to walk in and take the evidence openly. Stephan nodded, "It is even mostly honest. The case as you call it is ours to deal with." He turned to Curtis, the Enforcer who had dealt with the vampire along with his partner and who now had to clean up the mess they had left. "This is why I have insisted that Nicholas stays a police officer. He knows how these people work. See to it that this is taken care of as Nicholas has suggested." He dismissed them.

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Schanke and Tracy were at their desks going over their files when two pale men dressed all in black walked into the bullpen. "Don't look now, but we're being invaded by 'The Men in Black'," Schanke whispered. Tracy's expression didn't change but she did kick him under her desk. She knew that Schanke didn't know who they were but she did. They were Enforcers. She had seen them when she had gone to see the King to tell him about the vampire Natalie had down in drawer fifteen in the morgue. The air of menace that surrounded them was unmistakable.

They walked into Captain Stonetree's office and shut the door behind them. She wondered what was going on. "Man oh man oh man, please don't let those guys be feds," Schanke whispered as one of the men laid a file down on Stonetree's desk and Stonetree glared at them after reading it.

"Looks like it to me," Tracy said. She had to admit it was a neat way to make certain that no one investigated the vampire down in the morgue any more. She wondered how many times before they had done this.

The two Enforcers followed Stonetree out of his office and stood to one side as he made an announcement. "All right everybody listen up! These are Agents Hubbard and Voigt. Anyone who has anything on the John Doe that was found last night is to turn it over to them. As of right now, it is a Federal case." He turned around and stomped back into his office.

Sighs sounded from all over the bullpen and Schanke waved a hand in the air to attract the feds' attention. As they walked over to his desk he and Tracy gathered up their files and printed out what they had on their computers. The few other officers who had personal reports or notes on what they had seen handed them over as the 'feds' walked by. Schanke handed all of their files and Tracy handed off the printed out reports. Then the Enforcers left, much to Tracy's relief.

"Man, I wanted these guys. I mean, what if they go after Nick?" Schanke muttered. Unseen by the people in the bullpen, the Enforcers paused, listening.

"They won't," Tracy said confidently. "I recognize those feds. They don't stop for anything when they get on someone's trail."

"I guess being a Commissioner's daughter comes in handy every once in a while," Schanke said, relaxing. "Good, the thought that these psychos might go after Nick had me worried."

"They won't go after Nick," Tracy reassured her partner. 'Of course the fact that he out ranked them might have something to do with that,' she thought to herself. "Well, there goes our one recent case. What now?"

"Same thing we always do when ever there is a lull. We go back and look at our open cases and see if we can't shake something loose," Schanke said and pulled out a file to hand to her.

The Enforcers continued on their way out of the precinct and went onto the morgue. This conversation was one that would be reported to the King. It seemed that the Queen-to-be's ladies were already showing their worth.

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"I can't!" Vachon exclaimed in a near panic. "There has to be someone else. Toronto is full of vampires right now. There has to be someone older than I am." Vachon couldn't believe that the General leaving left him as Elder for the Toronto Community.

Lucien continued to pack, undeterred by Vachon's frantic attempts to get out of his responsibility. "The only two members of our Community who are older than yourself are Janette and Nicholas. They are both members of the King's Guard. They cannot take any responsibility other than that while the King is here. The others who are visiting are doing just that; visiting. You will be the Elder when I leave at sunset. You WILL do your duty." Lucien wanted there to be no doubt in Vachon's mind that he would enforce certain 'consequences' should Vachon abandon his responsibilities.

"Sir," Vachon tried again. "I can barely take care of my fledglings, fledgling," he corrected himself. Screed's loss still weighed heavily on his heart. It had been his fault that Screed had been a Carouche. He had been so lonely that he had tried to make a fledge when he was barely a fledgling himself. He hadn't known how to do it properly. He had left Screed alone too long and Screed had fed the first hunger on rats instead of the human that Vachon had been out trying to get for him. By the time he had gotten back to Screed with the woman that he had found, it was too late.

Vachon had done better with his other fledgling Ursula or Urs as she wanted to be called now. She was a good vampire but he knew that she was self-destructive and probably wouldn't last much longer. And worse still those two were his successes! He couldn't be placed in charge of any Community much less this one!

"I sha'n't be gone long, a year, perhaps two. The King will reside here during that time so I anticipate no problems for you. No one will make trouble while the King is here." Lucien shut his suitcase and turned to the much younger vampire. "You won't actually have to do very much Vachon. Everyone knows that you will be merely keeping my seat warm for me. Now get out of my way."

Vachon flattened himself against the wall and watched as the General swept out of the room. This was going to be such a big mistake.


	14. Chapter 14

Stephan wished that Michelle's professors hadn't had such a scheduling conflict that the only week they could go over her dissertation was during the Purge. He also wished that Tracy could have gone with her. The only thing he could do was have Janette and four of the fledglings she looked after go with her. He couldn't even hire a mortal bodyguard because right now at least there was no way to explain why she needed one.

"Stop worrying," Nick said from where he was standing behind Stephan. "She'll be fine, exhausted but fine."

"I know," Stephan said as he turned away from the window looking out over the airport. "But I am going to worry until she comes back. Mortals are so fragile."

"Yes they are," Nick said thinking of Natalie. "But they are strong too. She has guards for when she sleeps and she'll be in meetings the rest of the time. It's only for a week Stephan."

'I'm a vampire, over 300 years old. I can wait a single week,' he told himself. He was wrong. Later that same night, the event that Stephan had been both dreading and planning for was on the news. Two Enforcers were caught on live television chasing down a vampire under the Purge. The televisions in the main room of the Raven happened to be on when the news broke. Stephan recognized the vampire as Fredrick Torres, a pedophile who would rape his victims before draining them. "SILENCE!" he yelled at the crowd. The last thing he wanted was a panic.

"Nicholas, return to your police station." Nick bowed and swept out of the room. "James," he called to the fledgling near one of the TV's on the wall, "turn that up." Then he leaned back in his chair and reached out along his connection to the two Enforcers. Do not allow him to escape or harm to come to any human. You are on live television. Everyone is watching you. Remember what I said before. Privately he was grateful that it was these two particular Enforcers who had been caught. The younger one, David, had a particular fondness for police dramas. That would prove useful when they caught their prey and had to deal with the humans.

In downtown New York City neither Enforcer paused to acknowledge their orders. Already their quarry had shown himself to be a vampire to the crowds, running with his eyes and fangs showing, leaping over obstacles that no human could have and even flying at one point. He had quickly abandoned that tactic as they had nearly caught him then. He still had a stake stuck in his shoulder from that. Behind them they could hear a reporter babbling but they paid no attention. He was keeping up because the press of the crowd was keeping their speed down. Their prey ran into a large department store, dodging humans left and right.

No matter how hard he ran or how he tried to confuse his pursuers, he couldn't shake them from his trail. They had his scent and Enforcers never gave up. In desperation he snatched a little girl from her mother and threw the child. He had hoped that the Enforcers would let the child die, her head cracked open on the tile covered cement floor. If they did that, then the humans would mob them and he could make his escape.

They did not follow his plan. They obeyed the orders of their king. To the astonishment of everyone watching, including the police officers who had finally caught up with the three vampires, the two Enforcers split up, one flying up and over the crowd to land on top of their prey. The other flew to catch the child. With the child in his arms wide eyed in fright and astonishment, David landed next to her mother. 'How did the lines from that show go again? Oh yes,' he thought. "Here you are ma'am. We're sorry we could not have caught him earlier," he said with grave dignity. He was on the king's business. It would not do to act informally.

"You catchded me!" the little girl blurted out. "You flied and chatchded me!" He handed her to her mother and then gave a grave bow to the mother before giving the little girl a smile. He then went and joined his partner, Geoffrey.

"So what did this guy do?" one of the cops asked them. They hauled their prey off the floor, snarling and still attempting to escape.

"Raper of children," Geoffrey snarled. As there was no point in hiding what he was, he didn't bother. He hated pedophiles with a passion and his expression was hard enough to make the experienced cops shiver in dread.

He wasn't the only one who hated pedophiles. "You guys cops?" one uniform asked, hoping the answer was yes.

"We are the King's Enforcers," David said.

"How can we help?"

"If you could keep the other mortals back? His punishment will be," Geoffrey asked.

"Not something that should be shown on television," David interrupted.

Taking that to meant that the pervert was getting what was coming to him immediately, the uniforms began crowd control. The Enforcers hauled Frederick out of the store and into the alley behind it. The reporters had heard the request but being reporters tried to follow them out into the alley anyway. The police officers stopped the reporters from following. While the cops were just as curious as to what the punishment would be, they understood more than most that there were some things that shouldn't be shown indiscriminately.

A few minutes later they were glad that they had made sure no one followed the vampires into the alley. The cops could see the Enforcers from where they stood guarding the door to the alley. The Enforcers removed Frederick's pants and then his genitals were literally ripped off. The howl of pain echoed in the alley long after Geoffrey stuffed the offending organs into the pervert's mouth. Then they staked him and removed his head before setting him on fire. When the reporter demanded to know what was happening, one of the officers told him. Shaken, they waited until the Enforcers walked over to them. "It is done. He will harm no more children," David said.

"What are you?" the reporter asked, not daring to shove his microphone in the Enforcer's face.

"We are vampires. That one broke the Code, our king's laws. For that his life is forfeit," David said calmly.

"Who is your king?" the reporter asked. "And where does he live?"

"King Stephan is currently staying in Toronto, Canada." Before the reporter could ask another question they left, flying straight up into the night sky.


	15. Chapter 15

By the time Nick got down there, the chase was on every channel and being shown on every television set in the station. He hadn't bothered to hide the fact that his burns had healed completely. By the time that this night was over the entire world would know once more that vampires existed. The only difference would be that this time there would be physical evidence.

"Nick, good to see you," Stonetree said as he sat down next to Schanke and Tracy. "The investigation into Sneed has found that he really didn't believe that you'd get sick. So it's up to you what happens to him. At the very least, he's being busted down in rank. If you want, he'll go down to traffic cop. If you want, you can also press assault charges."

"Bust him down a few ranks Captain," Nick said. "If he had really pushed it or pushed me into the sunlight he could have killed me. I don't think he deserves to be sent to jail for it though if he really didn't believe that I'd get sick." Stonetree nodded and they sat back to watch the news coverage.

"My god, would you look at that," Stonetree breathed as the Enforcers jumped over a semi truck that had gotten between them and their quarry.

"That can't be real," David Parker said bewildered. He was a detective with Robbery.

"Oh yes it can and yes it is," his partner said. "That is live tv, no fakes, no special effects, nadda, zip, zilch."

"Five bucks says they catch him," said the daytime desk sergeant. He'd been delayed leaving the station and was hanging out in Homicide. Gossip said that the reason he hung out down at the station so much was to avoid his daughter's wedding plans.

"Sucker bet!" called many of the detectives, including Nick and Schanke. "There is no way he's getting away from them," Schanke went on.

By the time the chase came to its violent conclusion, the majority of the Toronto Police Department was firmly on the side of the Enforcers, not necessarily vampires in general, but the Enforcers at least. But when the Enforcers said that the King of the Vampires was living in Toronto, everyone started talking at once. Just as it started to devolve into a mob divided between 'vampires are monsters' and those two looked like good guys to me' Tracy piped up. "I don't know what you're freaked out about Frakes; it isn't like they didn't exist two hours ago or last week for that matter."

"What are you talking about Vetter?" the upset cop snarled.

"None of you know any facts about vampires other than they really exist. I've known about them for almost a year now and I know a lot more about them than you do. Now are you going to act like cops or are you going to act like a mob over a bunch of horror stories?" Tracy got right into Frakes face.

"What's to know? They kill people to drink their blood. Even if they're ripping each other to pieces they're still murderers!" he said, bewildered that there was even a discussion.

"Like I said, horror stories and even more important facts taken out of context. Why are you applying 20th century morality to people who were committing the acts in the 14th? Up until this century there were always groups of people who weren't considered human. Those people are the ones vampires have traditionally hunted. Also, up until the medical breakthrough of blood donations the only choice a vampire had was hunt or starve to death unless they were high enough in rank to be fed by the King. That option has only been available for the past 500 years. Don't expect vampires to be better than everyone around them." Tracy knew the next argument Frakes would come up with. Schanke and Nick just looked amused. Their rookie was up in points.

"Why can't they drink animal blood?" Frakes thought that he had the rookie.

"Some do, they're called Carouche. You see a vampire's diet is VERY species specific. The first meal a vampire has sets the vampire's taste buds and dictates both what the healthiest meal will be and how that vampire thinks. Vampires are biologically set up to hunt. What they hunt is determined by that first meal. The best hunters are those that think like their prey," Tracy paused but Frakes just looked blank.

She sighed and shook her head. "Look I knew the Elder of the Carouche here in Toronto before the recent epidemic killed him. His prey was rats. Screed could drink human blood but he didn't like it. He lived in the sewers, he dressed like a homeless person and he thought like a rat. He couldn't plan for the future. He couldn't conceive of getting a job and it was a miracle that he survived as long as he did. He was that way because his master was barely a fledgling himself and got the timing wrong. Most Carouche are created because of mistakes. They're considered the retarded second class of the vampire communities."

"He didn't like human blood but he could drink it?" Schanke asked. If the reverse was true, then that would explain the cow blood in Knight's fridge.

"It's like the difference between a gourmet meal and one of those nutritional drinks. Screed loved his squeekers. I bought him five pet store rats for his conversion day last year. He said it was the best present he'd ever had." Tracy looked sad. She missed the scrawny English sailor. "Now any vampire can go to the Elder of his or her community and get bottled blood. They have to pay for it of course, but like anyone else most vampires would rather buy their groceries than go hunt for it."

"So if a vampire wanted to keep the ability to think like a human, they'd need to drink human blood for their first meal," Stonetree said.

"Yes sir."

"Starve or eat is self defense but what about now? What happens if a vampire decides to snack on someone now?" Frakes wanted to know.

"Vampires have laws the same way we do. They're collectively called the Code and every vampire and Carouche have to follow it. If a vampire violates the Code the Enforcers go after them. You've seen the results of that." Tracy turned to Natalie, who had been trying to stay out of the argument. "Nat, how many of your customers in the last year could have been killed by vampires?"

Natalie was startled to suddenly be in the spot light but she and Nick had already talked about what the King wanted if the truth about the existence of vampires came out. She turned to face the crowd. "First you have to understand that I've known about vampires for a few years now. I had a patient wake up on my table after he tried to stop a robbery and caught a pipe bomb for his trouble.

"When I've suspected that one of my patients has been killed by a vampire I've turned those cases over to the Elder of the Vampire Community's family here. They either find the perp or call in the Enforcers and they deal with the situation. You already know how they deal with those who break the Code." she waved at the tv and most of the officers were nodding in satisfaction even as they looked like they were going to puke.

"Well I'd say that there have been no more than ten victims in the past year that I can positively identify as vampire kills. Those murders were committed by four vampires, one of whom was very disturbed mentally. I'm not even sure that she knew what she was, much less that she could live on bottled blood. Of the other three, two didn't care that murder is against the Code and the third was a case of self defense as the person she ate was trying to stake her at the time." She shrugged, "I think that statistically speaking, I get more vampires as patients then vampire victims."

"You treat vampires? But they aren't human!" Frakes said aghast.

"Actually I proved that they were human two years ago," Natalie said calmly. The last thing that she wanted was for that particular thought to get going.

"Are you sure about that Nat?" Stonetree asked hopeful.

"Positive Joe, I ran every test there is. Vampirism is nothing more than a contagious genetic virus that attaches itself to a person's RNA rather than the DNA."

"What's the difference between RNA and DNA?" one of the uniforms asked.

"The DNA is the blueprints of a cell. As you know every person's DNA is different and dictates how they look, what their body type is, etc." Natalie paused to make sure that everyone knew what she was talking about. When she was sure that they did, she continued. "Well your DNA is contained within the nucleus of its cell and has no direct contact with the rest of the cell. Think of it as the Chief of the cell and the rest of the cell like the uniforms on the street. The DNA sends messages to the rest of the cell through the RNA like the Chief sends messages through your sergeant. When the vampire nucleotides attach themselves to the RNA, they take the messages and screw them up so that they can survive. Aside from the unusual placement of attachment that is what always happens when a virus attacks a cell. That is the medical reason that a person becomes a vampire."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"All right every body," Stonetree stood up. "Listen up we're going to be up to our eyebrows in freaked out civilians out there. I want every cop that reports out of this station out there on the street calming people down. Spread the word that Dr. Lambert already proved that vampires are human, they just have a genetic illness like Down syndrome. Remind people that what they saw on tv tonight was a two cops chasing down a convicted criminal who hurt kids. Now get outa here."

He turned to Nick, Schanke and Tracy. "Listen, I need you out on the streets too but I also need to know more about what we're dealing with. Nick, since it's obvious that you're a vampire and technically you're still off duty, can I get you to give me a rundown on the basic facts? I'm sure that sooner or later someone from higher up on the food chain is going to be calling me."

Nick sighed, he had been expecting this. "I'd be glad to Cap, but the King's expecting me back soon with a report on what's going on out there and how we're dealing with it. As soon as the reports come in from the street I have to get back."

"You know the King?" Schanke asked amazed. "On second thought, why wouldn't you know the guy? You're the only vampire we have on the force and he's going to want to know what's going on." He waved his hand in the air, figuratively erasing his questions. "Never mind, we've got work to do right now. Listen, the kid and I'll get out on the street and hit the information sellers. They know how to move this sort of information the quickest and that's what we'll need right now. Come on kid, Nick I'll see you at your place after sunup. Hostalabyebye!"

Nick watched in bemusement as Schanke dragged Tracy out of the room. By then he and Stonetree were the only ones there as Natalie had taken the opportunity to sneak out as well. He turned to his captain, "So what do you want to know?"

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In Michelle's hotel room, vampires were ducking as she trashed the place. Broken vases and mirrors littered the floor along the walls. Pillows had been thrown across the room from where they normally rested. While the Janette and the other vampires that were guarding Michelle had seen far more destruction than one small mortal woman could create with her bare hands, the passion with which she threw herself into her temper tantrum met with their approval. It took a great deal of passion to be able to survive among vampires.

"My lady?" Janette asked as Michelle finally dropped to the floor, tired out.

"Why couldn't they have waited another week?" she cried. "Stephan was planning on this happening sooner or later, but I wanted to be there with him when it happened! He's going to need someone there to help him!" she fretted.

Janette smiled, 'This mortal is worthy of my King if that is the reason she is so upset.' "My lady, right now you need your rest. You have a dissertation to defend. The sooner that is completed, the sooner we may return to my liege."

Michelle nodded; she knew that Janette was right. She did need her sleep if she was going to be any good tomorrow. "Do any of you need anything?" she asked. She didn't want any of them to suffer just because they had to watch her; stupid royal customs. She didn't really need a bodyguard. No one that mattered knew about her or her involvement in the vampire world.

"Nothing my lady," Janette reassured her as she picked Michelle off of the floor. "The local community has been very generous. Now get some sleep and in the morning you concentrate on your work. Leave the worrying to others for now."

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Lucien LaCroix had already had the crypts removed from the castle and was going over the plans of Castle Vladislas with the architect he had hired. He preferred to hire European craftsmen when he could as those from the Americas tended to be sloppy in his opinion. There was also the fact that castle restoration was a specialized craft.

Not being a stupid man and having seen the news this morning, the architect asked, "Sir is this remodel intended for both vampires and humans?"

Lucien had been hoping that he hadn't seen or heard the news yet. As it was he was having a hard enough time holding on to his temper. He hated mortals knowing what he was, unless he was about to eat them that is. Too bad he needed him alive. "Yes it is and the term is mortals not humans."

"Well in that case, why don't we do this?" the architect was nervous but determined not to mess up this job. He was being paid a lot of money for this job and if he managed to do something really good, he just may have a new specialty. There weren't that many castles out there that the owners had the money to renovate as they should be. There were several things that he could change in his design that would make it easier for both vampires and mortals, such as remote controlled shutters on the windows and glass doors.

Lucien knew about the shutters of course, Nicholas had them on the windows of his loft but he hadn't known that they didn't have to be metal. He was pleased with the changes that the architect suggested. They would make getting around the castle much easier during the daylight hours. Plus there were several modifications that he would never have though of himself. This mortal really was good at his job. That was good; Lucien really didn't want to have to kill him. It would make getting the job done so much harder as there weren't many people who specialized in modernizing castles and were willing to work in such a remote location.

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"Well?" Stephan asked Nick as he paced around the loft. He was there because Nick's home had far more security than the hotel or the Raven.

"So far, so good," Nick said. He stood at attention before his King. "We've had a few instances of panic, but none of our people were hurt. That's been good because the press and officials are coming down hard on those who have tried to play vampire hunter. The information that you wanted released is already out there. There are already requests from a dozen television and news papers for interviews of Dr. Lambert piled on her supervisor's desk."

"Have her do at least one interview first thing in the morning and either sit in on it or do one yourself," Stephan ordered. "Make sure that it gets as much coverage as possible."

Nick bowed and headed for the morgue. He didn't need to be ordered to go there. He was worried about how Natalie would be handling the sudden overwhelming requests for her presence. It wasn't that she didn't have the experience of testifying on her findings, but he knew just how much different reporters could be. And Natalie didn't have his ability to influence them to get away if she needed to.

"Nat?" he called as he poked his head into her office. She wasn't there so he went on to her examination room. She did most of her work there but he had thought she'd be hiding in her tiny closet of an office. He found her at her desk, banging her head gently on its surface. "Hey, hey it can't be that bad!" he said as he gently pulled her away.

"CNN and everyone else want to interview me; I can't take the phone off the hook because this is the morgue, we're getting flooded with calls and that's slowing things down like you wouldn't believe. We've actually had to have dispatch call Grace on her cell phone any time we're needed! And my boss is demanding that I do as many interviews as possible to get them off our backs!" she whimpered.

Nick chuckled and drew her into his arms. "Don't worry about it Nat, I'll do the interviews with you. Stephan wants me to do a few anyway and this way we can back each other up." She felt so good in his arms that he didn't bother to set her down. It had been a hectic time for them lately but he had thought about what the changes in his life meant for the two of them. Damn LaCroix and his abusive ways. He could have had Natalie as his for years if wasn't for his former master! It was a good thing for LaCroix that the price Stephan had demanded for nulling the agreement between the two of them was that LaCroix would not suffer any reprisals for the past. The General had taught his son the art of torture far too well.

Natalie relished the feeling of being held by Nick until she felt him tense up. "Nick?" she asked, wondering if he was going to back off yet again.

"It's nothing Nat," he said, smiling down on her. "I was just thinking about what I'd like to do to LaCroix and that I'm not allowed to. Stephan doesn't want us fighting."

"Well, I don't want the two of you to go at it either; life is hard enough right now!" Natalie said with a laugh. She could just imagine what Nick would do to LaCroix if he was allowed. She knew one of the things that had held him back over the centuries was his own guilt and the fledgling bond between the two of them.

"So when do you want to brave the gauntlet?" Nick asked.

"I guess as soon as I can pull up your chart," Natalie said fatalistically. If both her supervisor and the King wanted her to do the interviews then she would be doing the interviews. At least Nick had offered to hold her hand while she did them. She let go of him and went over to the locked drawers where she kept her research. It would be best to get this over as soon as possible.


	17. Chapter 17

Dana Carmichael was thrilled to be chosen as the reporter to interview Dr. Lambert. The only problem she had at all was that she was told on no uncertain terms that Detective Knight was going to be there and she had the distinct feeling that if she did anything wrong she'd regret it. It wasn't anything specific, just that Detective Knight was a very scary man when he wanted to be. The rumor that he was a vampire made her even more wary. The trouble was she wasn't sure exactly why he was going to be there.

When Dr. Lambert walked onto the stage holding Detective Knight's hand in a death grip, Dana was sure of one of two things. Either Knight was there to make sure that Dr. Lambert didn't say anything she wasn't supposed to, or Dr. Lambert was his girlfriend and he'd tear anyone who scared her apart with his bare hands. And from what she'd heard from the reporters on the police beat, it was more likely to be the later than the former. Apparently there had been rumors about the two of them for years.

The way he settled her into her seat clinched it for Dana, Knight and Lambert were a couple. She'd seen a lot of couples over her years as a reporter, some madly in love, and some just together for fun or profit. These two were in love, madly in love if she what she was seeing was typical of this couple. She wondered why they kept it quiet. But then that wasn't the question she was here to ask this morning.

Natalie was terrified. She wasn't scared of the repercussions of the interview; it was the interview itself that had her insides in a knot. She held Nick's hand hard enough to break bones but he never even flinched. She didn't notice the look he shot the reporter just before he sat her down in her chair. She did notice that he had chosen the seat between her and the reporter. 'My defending knight,' she thought a bit amused. '800 years and he still hasn't changed that habit.'

It didn't help. When the interview started she stammered and knocked over her papers. Nick saying that the camera wasn't going to bite her loud enough for everyone to hear was the last straw. Without pausing to consider the implications, she reached up and smacked him upside the head. "That's not funny Nick! I'm nervous enough as it is!" It wasn't until later that she realized that was the reaction that he'd been trying to provoke. "Smart ass vampire," she muttered as Nick laughed quietly at her.

The reporter grabbed her remark and ran with it. "Detective Knight is it true that you're a vampire?"

"Yes I am," Nick said calmly.

"How did the two of you meet?" she asked.

"Well as you know I'm the night shift Medical Examiner," Natalie said. She did not want the reporter to find out about Nick's quest. "Five years ago I had a patient brought in. He had tried to stop a robbery and had caught a pipe bomb for his trouble. That patient was Nick."

"I would think that something like that would have killed you!" Dana exclaimed.

"I was knocked unconscious," Nick said.

"A vampire's heartbeat is only one beat every ten minutes and unconscious their respiratory rate is even slower. That makes it very easy for them to be mistaken for a corpse. Nick woke up on my table as I was about to start his autopsy. After I finished freaking out,"

"Which took a remarkably short amount of time," Nick interrupted.

"Afterwards," Natalie stressed, shooting Nick a dark look, "I got hooked on the mystery of just how vampires could be real. With Nick's cooperation and a lot of hard work, three years later I found the genetic virus that causes the condition."

"How does it work?"

"Well," Natalie began the mini lecture that she had prepared, including pictures of both regular RNA and Nick's. When she finished Dana was sure that even the dumbest of her viewers knew how the virus worked.

"Are you working on a cure Dr. Lambert?" Dana asked.

"You understand the mechanics of the virus but you don't understand those of us who have it," Nick said flatly. "The virus is only contagious under very certain circumstances. Our laws state that an adult may only be brought across with their consent. Vampires aren't looking for a cure. We have our own kingdom and our own society, our own way of doing things. If Dr. Lambert finds a cure, very few would be willing to take it. It would be used for those who were infected either by accident or by criminals. We don't see being vampires as a bad thing."

'Well that answered that question,' Natalie thought to herself. 'It's a good thing that I've already made up my mind about what I'm going to do about it. If Nick really is ok with being a vampire now, I have no objections.'

"You say that you have your own kingdom and the vampires that were caught on camera earlier tonight said that they were 'The King's Enforcers'. Could you explain that a little more?" Dana asked, shifting the questions away from a potentially touchy subject. The last thing that she wanted was to get Knight pissed off at her.

"We have been shunned for so many millennia that we had to band together to survive. Our current government has been stable for the last 6000 years. King Stephan Vladislas is our king and he has a group of advisors called the Council of Elders. The Royal Guard and the Enforcers answer only to the King. The Royal Guard is just that, the royal family's bodyguards. The Enforcers are those who enforce the King's Code, our laws. They are judge, jury and, when necessary, executioner. That is the extent of our national government. We have communities around the world and each community is ruled by the oldest member of that community, known as the Elder. That's basically it. We don't need a lot bureaucracy." Nick explained.

"What is your place in the Toronto Community?" Dana asked.

"I'm the Captain of the Royal Guard and while he's here I'm part of his court. Before that I was the third eldest in the community."

"So you moonlight as a bodyguard to your king?" Dana asked. "What about your work as a police officer?"

Nick laughed, "No, I moonlight as a police officer from my job as His Majesty's guard. I've held that job for the last three hundred years. I've only been a homicide detective for the last five years. He doesn't need a bodyguard all that often, so I can pursue my own interests most of the time." Nick noticed that the longer the interview went on, the more relaxed the mortals around him became. It looked like Stephan was right about having him doing the interview.

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Donald Schanke could be a very patient man when he needed to be. He knew that Nick was a very private man. He kind of had to be being a vampire for at least three centuries and Don was betting it was a lot longer than that. He also knew that the questions everyone was asking him would sooner or later trigger a visit from the Knightmare. He would have to phrase his own questions carefully and wait until the proper time to ask.

His time came several days later when Stonetree assigned the two of them to a stakeout without Tracy. "She wants a puppy. I know its good for kids to have pets but all three of us are running in so many different directions all the time there is just no way. The poor thing would be on its own most of the time and that's no good! Why couldn't Jenny have wanted a cat? They can take care of themselves!" Schanke ranted mildly while keeping one eye on their assignment and the other on his partner.

Nick smiled and let the familiar cadence of one of Schanke's mini-rants flow over him. He had really needed this. Schanke was one of the few people who weren't pestering him with questions about vampires. He was just glad that his reputation kept them from asking him personal questions. He also knew that Schanke was doing it on purpose. There was no possible way that Donald Schanke did not have questions. And if there was anyone who deserved the answers to those questions it was his partner who was bending so far over backwards to be supportive that Nick was shocked he hadn't fallen yet. "Jenny would probably like a cat. If I'm right then that little rugrat of yours is angling for a kitten. She's either waiting for you to offer one as a compromise or is planning on doing it herself. Why don't I get her one, that way both of you can blame me when Myra gets upset," Nick offered.

"You really think so?" Schanke hadn't thought of that. Jenny was smart enough to try that tactic to get around any objection Myra had.

"Yes and if I'm wrong then you can still blame me."

"That sounds great partner!" Schanke said enthusiastically.

Nick laughed, "Just consider it payback for the last few days. You've been one of the very few people who aren't hounding me right up a wall."

"Oh I've got my questions Nick, but they can wait until you're ready," Schanke said. He wanted to show his support.

"Well I've got one for you," Nick said. "How long have you known about my being a vampire? I noticed that you stopped eating slouvaki around me and you stopped pushing me about things like sunlight and solid food long before it was public knowledge." He looked over at his partner.

Schanke was sitting next to him with a smile on his face. "Do you remember when we had that firefight in the alley? You saved my life and I ended up killing the perp?" Nick nodded. He remembered that Schanke had gone off the deep end for a little while but he had thought that LaCroix had talked Schanke out of his correct conclusion. "You gave me a nickel and dime mindwipe but it didn't really take. I was able to piece things together on my two week leave. Once I had everything straight in my head, I calmed down and figured you'd tell me when you were ready to trust me."

"Don it was never a question of trust!" Nick protested. "I was already under suspicion for Code breaking because of Natalie. And I could never ask you to keep something like this from Myra! One wrong move and we all would have been killed, including Myra and Jenny. I couldn't do that to you!"

"You always know just what to say, don't you partner? That is probably the best reason in the world to keep something from me. I should have known that you were protecting my family." Schanke shivered; sometimes he could still hear the screams of the vampire executed by the Enforcers. He did not want Nick or his family to end up on their wrong side. "What about now?"

Nick grinned, "Now I'm Captain of the Royal Guard, technically I outrank the Enforcers. And vampires are public knowledge now. I don't have to hide anymore. Which is really weird," he added, squirming.

"Good, then could you please tell me once and for all what is up with you and our favorite ME? And don't tell me that it is complicated. I get that any relationship you have is going to be complicated." Schanke was determined to get to the bottom of his favorite mystery. Everyone knew that Nick and Natalie were perfect for each other.

Nick grimaced, of all the questions he had expected Schanke to ask, he just had to ask that one. "Ok but promise me that this will stay with you Don."

Schanke knew that Nick only used his first name when the situation was extremely personal and serious. He nodded, "I'd swear on a bible but we don't have one with us."

"That's not necessary. When I became a vampire, my master,"

"The Nightcrawler guy," Schanke interrupted.

"His name is Lucien LaCroix and yes, he's the one who brought me across. Anyway, he didn't teach me everything I needed to know. That's caused me a lot of problems over the centuries. One of the reasons is because I wouldn't let him bring my baby sister across. She and my mother were the last members of my mortal family left alive and no matter how much he said he loved her, I knew he would hurt her."

Nick looked over at Schanke who had a solemn look on his face. "I already knew that he was a hard man, Don. In some ways he was already abusing me. He taught me to fly by throwing me off a cliff. I couldn't let him do that to my sister."

"Of course you couldn't!" Schanke said firmly. "You had to look after your family the best way that you could."

"If LaCroix had known that I love Natalie he would have killed her or forced me to kill her," Nick said bleakly.

"Ouch!" Schanke muttered.

"Yeah," Nick said. "And like I said before, he didn't teach me everything he should have so my control was never as good as it should have been. I've been terrified of killing her." He growled and clenched his hands. "Needlessly as it turns out. The way to avoid killing your partner is easy. I found that out when Stephan made me Captain of the Royal Guard. He's just a kid but he's taught me more in days than LaCroix bothered to teach me in centuries."

"I know where I can get my hands on a whole mess of fresh garlic," Schanke offered, not bothered in the least that he was talking about torturing a very old vampire.

Nick laughed. "Thanks Don, but the King has forbidden my taking revenge. It's part of the deal he made."

"The restraining order goes both ways huh?" Schanke asked remembering what Natalie had said a while back.

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "But now that things have changed, I've got a few ideas."

"How can I help?"


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Michelle sat thinking on the plane that was taking her back to Toronto. The news that vampires were real had come at a very bad time, at least for her. She had been expecting her committee to rip apart her dissertation like they did everyone's but instead they had demanded to know if she had known that vampires were real. She couldn't lie.

She had explained that she had met several vampires while she was in Prejnar but that as it was against the Code for her to write about them she had been forced to write her dissertation as though they hadn't existed. Fortunately they had accepted that but it had been touch and go for a while. Her dissertation had been accepted. She was now Dr. Michelle Jackson, soon to be Vladislav, soon to be Queen of the Vampires. Her peers, such as they were had been excited to hear that she was planning on writing an account of the defeat of the Turkish army based on first hand accounts of those who had been there.

Excited was really too tame a word but she still wasn't as blunt as Lillian had been. Lillian; that was another thing that had changed when the news had hit. She had been able to meet with Lillian's parents and tell them the truth about Lillian's death. Well, at least that Radu had killed her. She hadn't wanted to explain to them that she had been turned and then had to be executed by Karl. Her parents had been grateful to know the truth about their daughter's death and that the vampire responsible was dead, killed by the King himself. She hadn't explained just who Radu had been.

Truthfully between her dissertation defense, informing Lillian's family, and beginning her wedding plans with Janette, Michelle was exhausted. And Janette was more aware of it than she was. Janette had taken her duties as her future Queen's bodyguard very seriously. She had monitored both Michelle's eating habits (after consulting with Natalie about what was a good diet for a mortal these days) and the amount of sleep she had been getting. She also suspected that her hectic schedule wasn't the only reason that Michelle was so exhausted. It was still a little soon to tell but the symptoms usually started much sooner in a vampire pregnancy than in a mortal one. Michelle slept all the way back to Toronto.

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Natalie hadn't been expecting this little complication to come about because of the now public knowledge that she had been the first one to isolate the vampire virus. But here she was, in downtown Toronto, in the biggest conference hotel the city had at a scientific conference in her honor. The guests included some of the highest ranking geneticists in the Northern Americas as well as other scientists and coroners from all over the world. And some of the stories her fellow coroners were telling! It seemed that vampires all over were now going to the local night shift coroner if they ran into trouble of the 'this needs removing' type. She had to tell Nick the one about the vampire, the Vegas showgirl, and her pet python.

"He had to be a fledgling!" Natalie laughed at Dr. Roberts. "I can't see anyone over 500 doing that unless it's Vachon but then he's practically an eternal teenager."

"I swear it's true!" the coroner laughed. "I have an easy dozen witnesses! The Crime Scene techs and half a dozen uniforms were there in the room with me!"

"I tell you, it really makes you start when you're talking to a corpse and they wake up and start talking back to you," another coroner said to the others around the table. "I've started to hook all of my patients up to a cardiac monitor just to be on the safe side before cutting them open."

"As long as you keep it on for fifteen minutes you should be safe," Natalie said. "A vampire's heartbeat is an average of once every ten to eleven minutes. And it's much worse if you've got your back turned when they sit up." She shuddered to everyone's amusement.

"Or when you're just about to cut them open!" said yet a fourth coroner. This table was filled with coroners from all over Canada and the United States. The woman who had spoken about talking to her patients, Dr. Marie Santos, was from Florida and Dr. Roberts was from Las Vegas, Nevada. The last man, Dr. Triple, was from Vancouver B.C. "I thought I was busy before but with patients that can walk out on their own two feet, well it feels really good, you know?"

"It's a very unique service that we can provide for them," Natalie pointed out. "I mean, look at them." She pointed around the rest of the dinning room. "How many of them are regular doctors who see patients the way we do? These guys are all top notch scientists, they aren't family doctors. They are all looking at the genetic side of this. They don't deal with anything like what we do. No one, vampire or mortal, is going to go into one of their offices in the dead of night to get a knife blade cut out of their side. And a vampire can't go to an ER, not without risking exposure or accidentally infecting someone. A wounded vampire around as much blood as there usually is in an ER is not a good idea and they know it more than the rest of us."

"Where we're used to having patients come in covered in contaminated blood," Dr. Santos pointed out. "And I for one really want to know what sort of precautions we should be taking. The community in my town is pretty big."

"First and foremost get your hands on some curare," Natalie said firmly. "With vampires it's the heavy duty stuff or nothing. You have to make sure that they're feeling no pain before you operate." Natalie wrote down the dosages needed and passed them over to her. "They can drink any sort of contaminated blood you have on hand, but the stuff without drugs is best. AIDS, HEP A, B, or C, and just about anything else won't do a thing in their systems. The vampire virus overwhelms them all. Their blood on the other hand, as long as you take the standard precautions you should be fine. The only time vampirism is contagious is when you have enough of the virus in your system and an extreme loss of your own blood."

"Why wouldn't they go to the ER then? I mean, we all know about them now so exposure isn't a problem," Dr. Triple asked.

"A wounded vampire is a hungry vampire," Natalie said sternly. "And that means that every mortal around them is a walking, talking happy meal if they can't control the instinct to feed. If they are wounded badly enough, instinct takes over and they will feed on the nearest source of blood, regardless of how they would normally react."

Dr. Roberts nodded in agreement. "Survival is the strongest instinct that anyone has, whether or not they're a vampire. Look at all of the survival shows out there now. Even though they show some really dramatic stuff, they don't go into how far a person really will go to survive."

The other coroners nodded in agreement. They had all had a case at one time or another that illustrated that. They were the ones who had to clean up after those sorts of incidents. It was at this somber moment that something happened. At the entrance to the dinning room a waiter rolled in a cart. It was covered with a white cloth and there were lit candles surrounding the upper tray. In the center was a mound of chocolates, a sample of every kind that the hotel carried. And at the top was a chocolate rose.

The waiter's entrance really hadn't gotten much attention, but his cargo did. Soon most of the diners, who were all guests at the convention, were craning their necks to see just who it was that was to receive this incredible treat. To the envy of quite a few, but to no one's surprise, the waiter stopped at Natalie's table. "Dr. Lambert, this is for you, complements of your first patient," the waiter said. He was a bit puzzled by the message but shrugged it off. He didn't know what that meant but from the blush on her face it was obvious that she did. Natalie did know what that meant. The chocolate was from Nick. He had been her first vampire patient. He also knew that she was a dedicated chocoholic. This looked like the start of something good.

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It was Nick's night off from the department and Natalie was busy at her convention. So he was killing time hanging out at the Raven. Oh officially, he was busy being Stephan's guard but the truth was neither of them had anything really pressing to do. So they were hanging out at a back table, watching the dancers gyrate about the club. Nick was also watching Vachon and having a grand time doing it too.

The poor kid was miserable. The General had forced him to take up his position as Elder of the community here in Toronto. Not only was that something that Vachon claimed to be totally unsuited for, most of the others who knew him would claim the same. That is, all but Nick and Tracy. The simple fact was that due to letting Tracy live Vachon had gotten himself into a position that had forced him to grow up. Very few knew that because he had kept his vampire relationships light and simple just as he had for most of the last 500 years. That made for some really comical moments when he was now called on to act as the Elder.

The worst of those was when someone would send a fledgling to ask something of the Elder. It was never something that Vachon couldn't handle, but it was often of an embarrassing nature. Watching Vachon deal with these questions and requests was funny enough but watching him deal when Tracy was sitting right next to him was hilarious.


	19. Chapter 19

The next night and most of the players in this particular drama were at the Raven. The back table that served as Stephan's public dais held Stephan and Michelle side by side. Nick and Janette were standing one to each side of them while a reporter and her camera man sat with their backs to the room. Nick wasn't paying any attention to the reporters. He was keeping an eye on the people that had flocked into the bar. Janette was closely watching the reporters.

For once Vachon wasn't being forced to play Toronto Elder. He was up on the stage playing with his band. The band was made up of various orphaned fledglings that Vachon had rounded up over the last year. While few realized it, including Vachon, these children had accepted him as their master and he treated them as though they were his fledglings. And that made what happened rather predictable, at least to those who really knew Vachon.

A mortal came into the club and proceeded to push his way straight through the dancers up to the stage. Anyone over two centuries could tell he was trouble and so could many of the mortals. The various fledglings in the club were either oblivious or too certain of themselves to realize just how much trouble one mortal could be. Nick instantly focused in on him and shifted closer to the front of the table. He wanted to be in place to take care of any trouble the young man would start.

But the young mortal, who couldn't be more than twenty five, didn't take the course that most of them expected. Instead of heading for either the bar to get drunker than he already was or heading over to where Stephan and Michelle were being interviewed, he headed for the band.

The reporters, David Giordano and Jake Turnbull, were long time partners who had taken on more than one dangerous assignment together. They were very good at their job which was why they had been chosen to do this interview. The camera man, Jake, sensed that something was going to happen and focused his camera on Nick.

He saw that Nick was intently watching something in the crowd and swung around to follow Nick's line of sight. Jake saw a skinny blond man forcing his way through the dance floor to the stage. He pulled back his focus until both Nick and the blond were being recorded by the camera. This was a live interview so he knew that he was taking a very big chance taking the camera off of the King and his fiancé but his instincts were screaming that something was about to happen.

Jake was rewarded when Nick pulled out his cell phone and his camera picked up his conversation. "Dispatch, this is Knight. Domestic in progress at the Raven; I don't like the looks of it. I think it's going to get ugly. Send down a unit; hopefully all we're going to have to do is throw someone in the tank." Jake figured after a few centuries Nick could recognize a couple fighting well before the first punch was thrown.

He didn't move the camera, but he heard the King stop the interview. "Nicholas, are you certain we need to call the police in?"

"He's Hunting, my liege," Knight said flatly. "He's carrying a stake. But it isn't you or your lady he's going after. I can't touch him until tries to kill the one he's after. So far he hasn't done anything illegal."

"The singer, see how he's focused on her," Janette spoke up suddenly. It was the first time she had spoken all night. "Nicola, she's one of Vachon's little group. She isn't even fifty yet and her master died from the Fever."

"He'll protect her Janette," Knight reassured his fellow guard. By now everyone at the table, and by extension most of the world as this was going out on CNN, was focused on this live drama. "He's taken her as his and he's already aware of the problem." Jake swung the camera just enough to shift the focus from Knight and the drunk blond he was watching to the drunk blond and the band. He could see that the guitar player was also watching the drunk mortal closely.

By now the drunk was almost to the stage. "He's not like any Hunter I've ever seen before," Janette said. "He's too drunk to think this out. How does he think he's going to live through trying to stake a vampire in a vampire bar?"

"That's because he isn't Hunting in the traditional sense Janette. He's a mortal who has found out that his girlfriend is a vampire. My guess is that either he didn't know it before and is freaked out about it or he already knew and this is merely an escalation of an already abusive relationship." Knight sounded pissed but under control. He moved slowly towards the stage, never getting in between the group at the stage and the camera.

The only reason Jake could hear Janette cursing was because he was standing right next her. He guessed she, like most people, had a problem with abusers. He didn't try to catch any of the reactions going on at the table. He too sensed that the blond was going to do something the moment he reached the stage. What happened next was almost exactly what Knight and Janette had predicted. The drunk blond reached the stage and started yelling, "You won't sleep around on me anymore you vampire slut!" as he pulled a large stake out of his coat.

"Charlie?" the fledgling gasped. Then as the stake was shoved at her chest she was shoved out of the way and the guitar player took the stake in his chest in the girl's place. Knight moved so fast Jake couldn't see it. He grabbed the drunk and had him in handcuffs in seconds. "Vachon!" the girl was crying as she pulled the guitar player into her lap. "Somebody get Doctor Lambert!" she yelled.

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Down at the morgue, Natalie was leading a group of coroners on a tour of the facilities when her assistant Grace flagged her down. "Natalie, you gotta come see this!" She grabbed Natalie by the arm and dragged her into the break room where she had a small tv on. The out of town coroners followed. "They're interviewing the King. Why didn't you tell me he was engaged to a mortal?"

"Because the tradition was he didn't announce the engagement until she was pregnant," Natalie answered. She watched as Nick suddenly shifted. She knew that look, Nick was on the hunt. "I hope things aren't about to blow up," she muttered. She knew that with as many vampires who spent their nights at the Raven it was as secure a place for Nick and the others to be unless things were really fouled up. Nick should have been relaxed, concerned only with the reporters. But he wasn't focused on them. He was watching something out of sight.

As soon as Natalie saw Vachon staked, but not killed, she went running for her lab. This was going to call for more than her usual vampire care kit; the one that she used to pull out bullets out of Nick. As she threw her surgical instruments into her satchel, Dr. Mallard of the American NCIS gathered up a cooler and stocked it with as many bags of blood as he could find that had been marked for use by vampires.

Dr. Donald Mallard, who answered to the nickname of Ducky, was the oldest coroner at the convention. He had been sent as his jurisdiction covered any place where a United States naval service man or woman had lost his or her life; as well as being available to any other United States military branch that requested his services. That meant that at a moments notice he could be sent anywhere in the world. That increased his chances of running into a vampire and he wished to be prepared.

'How strange it is that the first time I'm to be involved with vampires it is the vampire who is the victim. I do hope Abigail is watching this. She was so worried about my coming here. She didn't want me to be hurt by a vampire,' he mused. He had told the twenty-something Goth girl that was his coworker in the NCIS lab that he had no real worries about attending the conference. 'You could have said that I predicted this when I told her that vampires are people and that being a vampire did not make them automatically evil. After all we of all people should know that just because one was a mortal, it didn't automatically make that person on the side of the angels.' Just because Abigail spent her time working computer and trace evidence did not mean that she was unaware of what else went on in their cases. Their team leader, Jethro Gibbs believed in using all of the talents of his people and kept everyone fully involved.

He followed Dr. Lambert closely as they headed out of the lab, only to run into two large vampires. "Dr. Lambert you're needed down at the Raven," one said hurriedly.

"I know. How fast can you get us there?" Natalie asked.

In answer they picked up both Natalie and Ducky and flew them to the Raven. It was the fastest way to get there. Natalie was too focused on getting to her patient to pay much attention to flying. Ducky was much more interested in their mode of transportation. While he had flown often and had no problems with flying, before it had always been in a plane. This time he was only being held up by a person instead of being inside a plane and could both feel and see every dip and sway caused by the wind and change of direction. When they landed at the Raven he only had time for the thought that it wasn't an experience he was sure he wanted to repeat before he and Natalie were rushed into the club.

Inside the Raven Nick was handing over the drunk over the uniforms that he had called for. The fool wasn't even wearing a cross; much less have any other sort of real protection against a vampire. They ignored him and rushed over to the stage where Sarah was still holding onto Vachon. "Damn," Natalie muttered when she saw just how close to his heart the stake was. "Vachon, how long ago was your last heartbeat?"

"Five minutes," he muttered. It was obvious that he was in a lot of pain.

"Ok, I'm going to have to make this fast and dirty Vachon," Natalie said as she pulled out her curare. "I don't have time to do this neat." She didn't wait for him to answer before jabbing him with the needle. If she was right the next beat of his heart could kill him. She needed to get the stake out before that happened.

"Fine," he gritted out. His band was still gathered around him and they reached out to hold him down when they realized that Natalie was preparing to remove the stake right then and there. The hasty operation was caught on live tv, as was the arrest for attempted murder and aggravated assault by Knight.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 19

Back at the station Captain Stonetree had his head in his hands. A textbook case of attempted murder and aggravated assault, should Vachon survive, had been caught on live tv not even five minutes ago and already he was tripping over complications. The first complication was that Knight had arrested the perp. That was ok, as long as he didn't have anything else to do with the case. He was too close to the victims to be impartial. The next complication was that the only other two detectives that he had who had any experience with the local Community were Vetter and Schanke. Vetter couldn't touch the case, Vachon was her boyfriend. And Schanke, well he didn't know how close the man was to Vachon or any of the rest of the vampires that lived in Toronto.

It wasn't just that his detectives were too close to the victim either. This crime had gone down on CNN while the reporters were interviewing the King and his girlfriend! Stonetree didn't want to touch the political implications of this. He looked up as Schanke walked into his office. "You wanted to see me Cap?" he asked.

"Did you see the attack down at the Raven on tv?" Stonetree asked, waving his hand at the small television in his office.

"No, is everyone alright?" Schanke asked worried. He knew that Nick was down at the Raven watching over the King while he gave an interview.

"Some schmuck came in and tried to kill his vampire girlfriend. The whole thing was caught on live tv. The uniforms are bringing him in now. The worst part is that the new Elder, that Vachon guy got a stake in the chest. Take Vetter down so she can see if her boyfriend's alright and take Richards and Johnson with you too. They'll take the lead on this case. You back them up. I don't want this case tossed because the detectives are personally involved but I don't want to have people calling me incompetent because I didn't send anyone with experience when we've got you three on the force either," Stonetree growled out the rock and the hard place that he was currently stuck in.

"Yes sir," Schanke agreed and ran out of the office. He gathered up the other three detectives and hurried them out to his car. Stonetree was right, as a group the three of them were far too close to the case to investigate it. On the other hand, he barely knew Vachon and Richards and Johnson were good cops. They would need to be to navigate this tangled mess.

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Immediately following the successful operation Natalie had Vachon moved to one of the back rooms. This one had been set up as a guest bedroom for older vampires that were passing through Toronto and needed a safe place to spend the day. Stephan had ordered Nick to watch over the situation while he, Michelle and Janette finished the interrupted interview. Nick was glad to get out of the rest of the interview. He had never been one to seek the spotlight. Even when he had been an actor it had been more as a curiosity and a favor for his current lover than a craving for attention.

Nick made certain that the crime scene was secure and turned it over to the junior of the two detectives that showed up with Schanke and Tracy before showing them into the room where Vachon was sleeping. "Nat is he ok?" Tracy asked as she rushed over to his side.

Natalie was putting the last of her kit away in its bag. "He'll be fine Trace," she said. She nodded at the small group of fledglings on the other side of the bed. "They've been very good at making sure that we have everything we need to patch Vachon back up." She pointed over at the small fridge next to a table and chair in the corner. "There's plenty of the 'House Special' in there for when the bags that Ducky brought run out. He lost a lot of blood but he'll make it."

Tracy smiled and turned to Nick. "Did anyone get a hold of Urs? She had to have felt Vachon get hurt."

"Trace," Nick began, his voice sounding both awkward and oddly gentle.

"NO!" Tracy snapped. "I know what you all think but it isn't right!"

"Tracy, she's not going to survive for much longer anyway," Nick said gently. "It isn't right to prolong her pain."

"Ok," Schanke clapped his hands together and started rubbing them, "does someone want to clue me and Richards in? Who's Urs and why would anything happen to her? Is she one of Vachon's fledglings?" Richards just nodded from behind Schanke. Nick turned back to his partner and examined the detective behind him.

Richards had been the oldest detective on the force before Nick was revealed as a Vampire. He was tall; about six foot two inches with graying black hair and tired blue eyes; the kind of eyes that you only got from seeing a lot of heartache. This man had been a cop for a long time. He was also smart as a whip and knew how to use other people's skills to his advantage, not that he was looking for promotion or anything like that. No, Richards had gotten to where he wanted to be on the force and was happy where he was. He was just good at using others skills to help him put the bad guys away. This was a man to watch. Before, he would have been someone to avoid or to kill if he couldn't be avoided. Now he was going to have to explain things that few outsiders knew and even fewer understood. It wasn't going to be easy.

Nick sighed to himself. On the outside his face was expressionless as he explained, "Yes she's one of Vachon's. Urs is about two and a half centuries but she's his daughter. It takes about two centuries for a Vampire to grow beyond being a fledgling, a child. She's the best job he's done so far with bringing someone across. Most Vampires don't turn that many others. It takes time, practice and a good teacher to learn how to chose a good candidate and bring them across successfully. So the statistics aren't as good as most people think. 50 of those turned do not survive the turning or the first 48 hours. 25 of those that survive the first two days do not survive the first week. Of those that do survive there are still those should never have been brought across. Those are the ones we call mistakes, those and the Carouche. Most of all of those are brought across when the sire is still young. By the time a Vampire is six to eight hundred they've learned how to judge the potential fledgling's chances."

"Damn, those are some serious figures," Schanke said, his face pale at the thought of Nick loosing so many of his children. Nick was 800 years old. There was no telling how many kids he'd tried to turn in that amount of time. "How many have you lost?" he asked quietly. If Nick had turned eight people, then he'd have only three survive with those figures. Schanke couldn't imagine the pain of loosing so many of his children. It made him want to call home just to check on Jenny.

"All but one not that I tried to turn many," Nick said harshly, "and she hates my guts. But at least I know that she has no problems surviving." He looked over at his partner. "She was one of my mistakes Schanke. We were talking about two different things when I brought her across. She didn't realize that I was talking literally when I offered her immortality. She was more than a little angry when she found out." He didn't think there was any reason to tell Schanke that there was at least one other daughter that he had, one that he hadn't intended to turn. She didn't like him either because she'd been an interrupted meal back when he hadn't cared about the people he was killing.

"And she still hasn't let you forget it either, has she?" Schanke said with fond memories of his own screw ups with the women in his life.

"It's been less than a century. She'll get over it eventually," Nick reassured him. "It's not like she doesn't enjoy being a Vampire, it's just that she wanted a child."

"And Urs is one of Vachon's mistakes," Schanke said getting back to the subject at hand.

"Vachon's told us that his Master committed suicide the morning after he and his twin were brought across. No one knows why she did that. You see, Vachon is a New World Vampire. We just don't know anything about the Vampires that were here 500 years ago or about their culture. Vachon's Master killing herself has to have some sort of significance; we just don't know what it is. That culture was pretty much wiped out during the centuries of conquering and colonization by mortals. Only a few Vampires from those times survive and Vachon is one of them. Vachon has only brought two across in his five centuries Schank, and he made mistakes with both of them. Screed became a Carouche because Vachon had no idea how long before First Hunger would strike and Vachon took too long to get back to him. Urs well, she wasn't a good candidate. She was badly abused in her mortal life and she wasn't one of those who could be helped. She keeps looking for a replacement for her abuser. No one expects her to live for much longer. At any rate, he made mistakes with Screed and Urs because he didn't have a Master to teach him how to bring someone across correctly or how to choose someone who was likely to survive both the infection and the life afterwards," Nick explained. He didn't tell the mortals that crossing over only killed about half of the fledglings, madness of one sort or another was the reason the rest died. Of his children, he had been forced to kill more than he wanted to remember because they couldn't control themselves and he could see the madness overtaking them.

"I can see where you wouldn't want to make someone like that live for centuries," Schanke said shaking his head. As a cop he had seen that sort of behavior time and time again from abuse victims. They couldn't break free of that pattern without a lot of outside help, help that wouldn't have been available centuries ago.

"The question now is, what will Urs do now that Vachon has been badly injured? She just might greet the sun if she is shaken up badly enough. And we don't try to stop anyone from that if that is what they choose to do," Nick warned glaring at Tracy. She would learn soon enough. Sometimes living just became too hard for a Vampire; there were too many adjustments to be made. In short, they grew old and it was an accepted option for those who truly wanted to die.

"She'll greet the sun," Sarah asserted. She was still standing off to one side with her fellow fledglings. The three young men weren't all that noticeable, being the sort that one would find on any college campus. Two were brunets while the third was blond. All of them had short hair and athletic builds that their leather clothing showed off. "She's never been really happy that I've seen but ever since the Fever its been much worse."

"Since Screed died," Nick agreed. "In their own way they were a very close knit family."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Richards knew by now that he wasn't going to get any information pertinent to the case by listening to Knight and Schanke talk but he was getting a feel for the vic's family and other background. But how else was he going to get to learn about the Vampire Community that they lived in? It wasn't like there was a class he could take! He was writing down the information he was learning when Natalie and Ducky came over from where Vachon was sleeping off the curare. Natalie had been sitting on the bed monitoring Vachon's progress and Ducky had been beside the bed watching the blood absorption. "I take it you're the lead on this one Hank?" she asked. She knew the rules as well as the detectives did. Nick and Tracy wouldn't be allowed to touch this case, (aside from Nick's very necessary arrest of the perp) and Don could only help in an advisory capacity for the same reasons.

He nodded. "What can you tell me Doc?" he asked her. He, like most of the detectives, respected the heck out of Doctor Lambert for her work on murder cases. But the knowledge that she treated Vampires and was researching the cause of Vampirism to help victims of Vampire criminals increased Richards respect. It took a very brave lady to see the people behind the monster legends.

"Javier Vachon, current Toronto Community Elder, just over five centuries old which puts him at the equivalent of late twenties or early thirties, two known fledglings, one deceased," Nat said, rattling off Vachon's stats.

"And us," Sarah said motioning to herself and the other band members. "We're adopted. We all lost our Masters to the Fever."

Natalie nodded and continued, "Four adopted fledglings, boyfriend to Tracy Vetter, lady in waiting to the soon to be Queen of the Vampires and rookie Homicide detective. He was staked in the heart." At this point Ducky handed over the evidence bag that he had placed the stake in. "I removed the stake approximately one minute before Vachon's next heartbeat. Had his heart beat before I could remove the stake he would have died."

"Close call," Richards observed.

"Very," Natalie said grimly. "Vampires are very tough and can survive a lot but this is as close as it gets for them. This won't heal overnight. He'll be on bed rest for at least two nights and probably won't recover his full strength for at least a week." Richards watched as the fledglings reacted with fully transformed faces and a major round of hissing. In the face of their fury the seasoned detective surprised himself by taking a step back. That was not the reaction he had expected from an abused girlfriend or her geeky musician friends. He had expected the girl to be timid but she was just as pissed off as the others.

"Calm down children," Knight called. "He'll be just fine and I'm certain that you can handle any threats in the meantime."

Richards didn't know if it was the prognosis of a full recovery or Knight's vote of confidence but the fledglings, (he just couldn't bring himself to think of them as kids) did calm down. "I need to talk to everyone, one at a time. With the attack on tape there isn't that much that a lawyer can do to get this guy off but we do need to make sure to get all of our i's dotted and t's crossed so he doesn't get off on a technicality. Can I talk to you first miss?" Richards asked Sarah.

She nodded and Knight spoke up. "I'll find you an interview room."

Nick escorted Richards and Sarah to Janette's office. He hoped that Richards would take into consideration that most vampires, especially the very old and the very young didn't look at personal violence the same way that mortals did. Ancient vampires had spent their formative years in a truly brutal age. They thought nothing of torture and enjoyed the fact that as vampires they could take far more punishment than most mortals could dish out. Fledglings were still at the stage where everything, even being the focus of violence was exciting. They were so caught up in their new found immortality that they enjoyed seeing the proof of it on a nightly basis. From her reactions tonight Nick thought that was how Sarah had gotten involved with the mortal she had called Charlie. He was going to have to have a talk with Vachon about her. She needed to be reigned in before something like this happened again.

He slipped into the bar and got four bottles of the House Special for the fledglings. He knew that they wouldn't touch the blood that had been set aside for Vachon. The last thing they needed to do was to let the fledglings become hungry when they were already angry and upset. It was hard enough for most of them to control their impulses. "The interview is over and the reporters are gone," Janette said as she also picked up a bottle. "How is Vachon?"

"He'll be fine in a few days but Sarah is going to have to be dealt with. Playing with a dangerous mortal is one thing, letting him get close enough to stake you or your master is another," Nick said seriously. Dating, or just hanging around mortals who reeked of garlic or who could other wise physically hurt them was a game most fledglings played at one time or another but usually they had masters to reign them in when they were about to get over their heads. "Did Vachon know about Charlie? Did he say anything to you about it?"

Janette grimaced and nodded, "Yes, he asked me if I would have a talk with Sarah but I was called away before he could explain what he meant. I think he believed that the warning would be better accepted from a woman than from him. Now that my lady is asleep for the night I'll have a word with Sarah once she'd done with that detective."

"I've got to get these to the fledglings. Have you seen Urs?"

Janette brightened. "Yes I have, she's gone in to see Vachon. I think she's doing better, at least at the moment."

"That's good; it would have really hurt Vachon to loose her right now. He's had a hard enough time loosing Screed. Tracy's been saying that she should see a psychologist to help her with her abuse issues. What do you think?" Nick asked as delicately as he could. While he wanted to know Janette's opinion, he didn't want her to think that he thought any less of her because of her own history with abuse.

Janette had been a gently raised lady, although she had been well aware that she had been only a commodity to her father. When she had not conceived a child after her first year of marriage to her husband, the man had sold her to a brothel. That was where LaCroix had found her and Nick knew that her first meal after crossing over had been her pimp. Personally he didn't blame her one bit; he knew that the centuries hadn't changed those sorts of men at all. If anything his time as a police officer had shown him that the majority had actually gotten worse. Few pimps centuries ago had used drugs to tie their women to them.

Janette seriously considered the notion. She had become rather addicted to day time television since its invention. It was her one secret vice. So she was more aware of how shrinks and councilors had actually begun to help women rather than blame them for the problems that such men had caused. "Perhaps, it is an option we should offer her now that it is an option," Janette admitted. "It still wouldn't be up to us if she should choose to greet the sun but I'm sure that it would help Vachon if she should choose to remain with us."

Nick nodded. It would also get Tracy off his case about being a cold hearted brute where Urs was concerned. That was one that hit a little too close to home for him. He did care now but for years, centuries, he hadn't given a damn about anyone or anything but himself but over time he had grown up and now he was very ashamed of himself. It was more than the fact that he was a murderer, having killed in order to survive. He had slowly, over the last several years, come to terms with that part of his past. No, it was his callus disregard of others and the way that LaCroix had encouraged him to kill for the sheer joy of killing that appalled him now. It was that attitude that he had to make up for now, that and the lives that he had taken.

He considered his change in attitude as he returned to Natalie's side and passed out the bottles of blood to the fledglings. He had been so very like Sarah, so very long ago. So sure of himself, so sure that human life didn't matter, he had been so certain that he had the right to do with any human exactly what he wished. He waited but he was no longer swamped with the same self loathing that had always accompanied those thoughts. 'Well, that was one good thing,' he thought as he poked his head over Natalie's shoulder as she checked Vachon's wound. 'As much as I know violent emotions are simply a part of being a vampire, I'm glad that I'm not getting overwhelmed be them any longer.' He smiled down at Natalie as she looked up quizzically at him. She would never truly understand the wonderful gift she had given him.

"Urs was worried," she whispered, nodding to the young looking woman who was holding Vachon's hand. Tracy was holding the other. "But he's doing fine," she said firmly to both women.

"It's going to be a long night. Do you need to get back to work? I could take you?" Nick asked. He hoped that Natalie would say yes. He had wanted to be the first one to take her flying but he couldn't find fault with the vampires who had brought her here. Vachon had been very close to death and Natalie had been his only hope. If they had taken any longer he would have died, but that didn't mean that he couldn't be the one to return her to the morgue. He could also take his time and show her the difference between an emergency flight and one taken just for fun. He really wanted to show her the one thing that he hadn't regretted about becoming a vampire.

"Can we go back the same way I came?" Natalie asked coyly.

"I think that can be arranged," Nick said with a smile.

"I think I'll take a cab back, if you don't mind," Ducky said. "I think that I prefer my flights to include a vehicle as the mode of transportation."

Natalie and Nick both grinned at the elderly doctor. "Schanke, make sure that Dr. Mallard makes it back to the morgue safely, will you?" Nick asked as he gently pulled Natalie out the door.

"No problem partner," Schanke said with a happy little smirk. It looked like Nick was going to take advantage of the situation to knock another item off of his court Natalie list. He wondered if Myra was up for planning a night time wedding.


	22. Chapter 22

Schanke got out of his car and slowly made his way along the walkway that ran from his driveway to his front porch

Chapter 21

Schanke got out of his car and slowly made his way along the walkway that ran from his driveway to his front porch. There were no toys, bricks, sticks or other assorted items that his nine year old daughter and the neighborhood kids played with littering his path between his wife's flower beds. 'One of the little perks of working the night shift,' he thought bemused. Myra made Jenny clean up the yard before dinner every night but his shift started before then so his trip to his car on the way to work sometimes resembled an obstacle course, one he was at least awake enough to deal with.

Dawn was well on its way when he reached his porch and he paused for a moment, knowing that this was one of the things that his partner had been denied for centuries. He watched the sunrise while thinking of all the vampires that were pulling the curtains and doors shut and locking themselves away from the danger. 'Well, we got one danger off the street,' Schanke thought, satisfied that Charlie Robinson was going to be put away for a long time. There was nothing he could do to protect vampires from the sun, but putting Hunters away, even incompetent ones like Robinson, was more than worth the effort to him.

When the sun was finally above the horizon, Schanke turned and walked into his house. It didn't look like a large house from the outside, but with a full basement and attic, both of which were finished and converted into living space, it was more than roomy enough for his small family. The moment he walked in Schanke did what he did every morning; he secured his weapon in the downstairs gun safe. His family was not going to become a statistic. He knew them better than most people did because he dealt with the aftermath of people's stupidity on a nightly basis.

All of the safes in his house had keypad locks and both Myra and Jenny had taken gun safety courses. How many times had he worked a scene where there was a gun in the house and the homeowner couldn't get to the guns in time to shoot an intruder in order to save their own lives and that of their children simply because they couldn't get to the keys? Or just the opposite, where an adult had a gun and didn't treat it with the respect it required and someone got a hold of the gun and someone died? Myra and Jenny both knew the codes for the safes and they had made sure that Jenny was well aware of the fact that guns weren't toys.

But right now Schanke wasn't going to think about the bad things that could happen. He went into the large kitchen to complete his homecoming ritual. He paused in the doorway from the living room to the kitchen and said, "How are the two most beautiful girls in the entire world this morning?"

"Dad!" Jenny squealed and jumped up to hug him. "Is Uncle Nick ok? Is that guy in jail? Is the guitar player ok? Is he the one that Aunt Tracy is dating?"

"Woah, woah, one question at a time!" Schanke laughed. He sat them both down at the table and accepted the hot bowl of homemade stew and cornbread that Myra handed him. He knew that it was simply her way of saying that he was important to her. Myra did something called once a month cooking, where she made simply huge batches of food and froze them in one to three serving sized portions. With Don on the night shift, her job as make up sales person and Jenny's school and various activities, it was rare that the three of them were sitting down to the same meal at the same time. This morning Don was having dinner while Myra and Jenny were having breakfast. With Myra's system they could all eat whatever they wanted at almost a moment's notice. It was just one of the many reasons that Don loved her. "I take it someone was watching the news last night?" Don asked Myra.

Myra rolled her eyes. "Nick was going to be on TV. Do you really think that we wouldn't be watching?"

Schanke shrugged and dug into his dinner. "Honestly I wasn't. This whole King of the Vampires bit is getting a bit old. I've known what I've needed to know about vampires for a couple of years now." He turned to Jenny. "Your Uncle Nick is fine and so is your Aunt Natalie. No one got bit, not that I expected anyone would bite someone with Stephan right there and watching, so yes, that guy is in jail and I imagine he's going to be there for a very long time. Vachon's going to be alright in about a week or so, and yes, he's the vampire your Aunt Tracy's dating. She's spending the day with him down at the Raven. Now you'd better finish that up if you're going to catch the school bus." He pointed at her plate of French Toast.

"Dad! It's Saturday!" Jenny protested.

"Saturday? Are you sure?" Schanke said, looking at his watch and yanking his daughter's chain at the same time. He knew very well what day it was and the plans that they had.

"Come on Dad! We're supposed to go to the zoo today!"

"Is that today?" he asked. "Are you sure?"

"DAD!" Jenny exclaimed, bouncing in her seat.

Schanke laughed. "We need to be back by two so I can get some sleep before I have to go in. I'm helping with this new case but we should be able to see everything if we hurry."

"I wanna see the penguins!" Jenny said before she started bolting her breakfast.

"Well I want to see the new bird exhibit. The birds are nest building right now." Myra said. Deep into plans, they hurried through their meal so they could make as much of their day together as they could.

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Natalie let herself into her apartment shortly after dawn with a dreamy smile on her face. Flying with Nick had been every bit as magical as she had imagined. Nick had held her close, tucked up against his chest, which had felt even more wonderful than the flight itself. By the time they had landed on the steps leading into the morgue what little amount of control she had over her feelings was in shreds, and Nick had known it.

The look in his eyes as he kissed the back of her hand, the old fashioned gesture coming naturally to him, before leaving had been predatory and it had thrilled Natalie. The gift of chocolates in front of her peers could have been simply a thank you; done to impress upon her audience how important she was as much as being a gift from a grateful patient and friend. That look however, had told her that Nick was done holding back with her. One way or another she was going to be his and she couldn't be happier about it.

Her cat Sydney wound himself around her ankles to both welcome her home and to demand his due treatment as the only royalty that mattered. Nat picked him up and scratched him under his chin. "You had better learn to get along with Nick better, Sydney. He's going to be around a lot more from here on in." Sydney flicked his ear to show her how far beneath him he felt Nick belonged. Nat laughed and put the cat on the floor and her coat and purse on the couch before she headed for the kitchen. Sydney needed his breakfast before she went to bed.

As she scooped her cat's food into his bowl and checked his water she wondered just what sort of approach Nick would take. Would he take things slowly and carefully, still frightened of hurting her? Or would he take advantage of his new knowledge and her familiarity with vampires to sweep her off her feet? Natalie put the cat food can in the garbage and looked out her window at the rising sun.

She really needed to sit down and figure out what she needed or wanted to do before giving up the sun. She had lived for years only seeing the sun on occasion and quite frankly her last few attempts to get out and be more involved in the daylight world had not ended pleasantly, Roger Jameson being a prime example. 'How strange is it that I felt safer in the arms of an 800 year old vampire, one that had shown me more than once that he could kill me in an instant, than I did any where near Roger even before I figured out that Roger was the serial killer we were tracking?' Natalie thought.

Then she realized that it wasn't so odd after all. At first Nick had been a patient, a medical mystery to sink her professional teeth into. Then she had found out that he was a Homicide detective, one that she would be working with. She could have left it there but by the time Stonetree had teamed Nick up with Don Schanke, the two them were quickly becoming friends. Helping Nick to keep his nature a secret and having someone to share the joke with when he played tricks on his partner or someone else, had cemented their friendship.

Nick had so few true friends that he truly treasured each and every one. Natalie was aware that as a vampire, Nick's mortal friendships were bound to be short lived, even if they knew his nature. Often he would be forced to leave his friends soon after they became aware of just what he was, even if he trusted them enough to retain that knowledge. Natalie was probably the first mortal in 800 years who had both known what he was and had remained friends with him, seeing him night after night, for an extended period of time. Falling in love had been inevitable, for both of them.

Sunlight, the first thing that sprang to her mind, she dismissed as inconsequential. Natalie turned from the window and opened her fridge. 'Food?' she thought. That would be a little harder, but honestly the stuff that she would really miss she really couldn't, or at least she shouldn't, have a lot of anyway, chocolate being the top of that short list. So she should make a list of everything she wanted to try and her favorites and set up a schedule so that she could indulge in them without having it affect her figure. The last thing she wanted was to be turned looking less than her best. She would be stuck with whatever she looked like at the time forever. Janette had to cut her hair every couple of days to keep it short, and ironically, so did Nick. He had made a joke once about it not being a good idea to be turned at the end of a couple of weeks long drunk.

Speaking of which, that was one bodily process that she was going to be more than happy to give up. She rarely drank enough to give her a hangover, but when she did it had always been a doozy. The others could be a real nuisance at times but were not anything she was going to want to cling to either, except for one perhaps. Her period was the key to her fertility. Was she ready to give up the possibility of becoming a mother? That was something that she was going to have to think about, and perhaps do some research into. There were options now that weren't available even five years ago. With that decision made, Natalie went off to bed.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The sun had risen over the horizon but Janette could not sleep. Her lady and the king were safely tucked away at Nicola's loft in the secure apartment that he had commissioned for them. She had taken care of the worker's memories herself. They only remembered that they had been paid extremely well to create a secure room for a vampire, but not where its location was nor whom it was for. It was not her charge's safety that kept her awake in her own rooms at the Raven.

It was the realization that for the first time in her life if she did not want to leave a place, she did not have to. Her duty to her king was a mere nothing. What was fifty to seventy years to her, if she would even be called upon for that long? Her lady was a scholar, not a spoiled debutante. Her tastes were simple and she spent as much time, if not more, interviewing members of the court about their defeat of the Turkish Army 500 years ago as she did planning her wedding! She was not a woman who needed to be coddled and waited on hand and foot. In all likelihood, the next Queen of the Vampires would be spending the rest of her mortal life happily buried in the Archives, and perhaps the rest of her immortal life as well if Janette knew her king.

As for Janette, she would be able to stay in Toronto if she wanted to, and thanks to vampires now being whatever it was that mortals now thought of them, she would not have to move on either. Janette sighed and sat down in her comfortable chair. It was an antique now, she'd had it for a couple of centuries, but she hadn't been able to find anything as comfortable to do her stitching in to replace it. Next to her was a well lit lamp on a small round table, well it was bright enough for her at least. Next to it was yet another chair; one that either Nicola or LaCroix had often sat reading in. At the base of the table and next to her feet, was the small chest that she kept her supplies in. Janette looked every inch the successful modern business woman she was, but she was still the product of a mindset that had only died within the last century. In some ways she would always be the noble born lady she had been in her early mortal years, just as Nicola would always be the knight crusader.

For centuries as her father and brother had wandered through the roles open to men, she had been confined to the two, well three if she could have lowered herself to the level of streetwalker, roles that were open to women. She could never bring herself to even approach the state that LaCroix had rescued her from, the one her husband had sold her into when she could not bear him a child. So she walked through the centuries as Nicola's wife when they were in less than promising circumstances and his sister when they were afforded a higher class of surroundings. Centuries of being bound to act as a proper lady or wife had subjected her to endless rounds of proper gatherings that she had recently mentally classified under three words, stitch and bitch. She hadn't come up with the phrase, a mortal woman had written a book she had seen in passing with that title. It had described those boring evenings before or after a hunt so well that the phrase had stuck in her mind, but all those endless rounds of doing all sorts of women's work meant that Janette knew her way around more than one set of needles.

With her lady's pregnancy now confirmed Janette was working on knitting a proper layette for the new heir. Only the finest materials would touch the child if she had anything to say about it. The king may walk around looking like a scruffy college student but the child was royalty and should be dressed as such. The finest silk and wool yarns, as well as more exotic types now rested in her chest as well as patterns that were far more practical than the layette she had made for the king when he was born. That did not mean that she intended to do away with all of the traditions of course. The Vladislas family crest and protection runes were already knitted firmly into the weave of the blanket that she was currently working on.

Setting her hands to working these days seemed to help calm her down and help her focus when she was disturbed she had found. Her maman would have found the notion amusing. All of the work that she had taught Janette had been practical, even the tapestries that they had made had served the purpose of helping to keep their small castle warmer during the winter months. Janette had learned a great deal of needlework in the following centuries, some of it practical, some of it not, but until this century she seldom had gone long without something in her hands to work on. 'So, should I go or should I stay?' she thought.

If she stayed then she could make the Raven a permanent haven for vampires. On the other hand, there was no reason that she couldn't go and still keep the Raven open. It would be nice to travel whenever she wanted and still have someplace to return to, she decided after a moment. Having a home was a rather alien notion to most vampires, as up until now they had needed to keep moving so as not to be discovered. 'But we have already been discovered,' she thought. 'And I have already had several people come into the Raven directly to sell their blood.'

That had been a shock. When the first one had come in wanting to know the price of a pint of blood, she had thought that he had wanted to purchase the blood. She had told him that she only sold blood to vampires, not to mortals who could legally get blood from other sources, (if his purchase had been legal that is). He had then interrupted her with waving hands and had said that he didn't want to know the purchase price for a bottle. He wanted to know how much they paid for the blood and if he could sell some of his to her. Janette was sure now that her shock had been all over her face, but she wasn't fool enough to turn the young man down.

She had grabbed his wrist and brought it to her nose. There was no mistaking a mortal on drugs or one who was ill from a vampire's sense of smell. The young man was neither. He was very healthy. "You are very healthy and are taking no drugs. For you, I have a little proposition, if you are willing?" Janette said, her thoughts turning to the one thing she had wanted to be able to sell, but hadn't been able due to the natural restrictions.

"I'm more than willing to listen. I'm Brad." The young man didn't bother to hold out his hand as Janette already had a hold of his wrist.

"Well Brad, I am Janette," she replied as she released his wrist. She didn't want to scare him away now. "I regularly purchase blood such as yours at ten dollars a pint, but that is for expired donated blood. If you wish to sell me a fresh pint every now and then, I would double my purchase price. If you would be willing to come in once every two weeks and wait until someone bought a fresh glass, I would pay you forty dollars a glass. You would not be able to give more than one glass. I have to follow the Red Cross donation rules about how often and how much you would be allowed to sell me."

"Forty dollars a glass? Are you sure?" Brad asked amazed. That sounded an awful lot for just a little blood to him.

Janette laughed. "For fresh blood on tap, I could ask eighty dollars or more a glass and still be swamped with orders. Tell your friends that the offer is open to them as well as long as they are healthy and not doing drugs. I will buy their blood if they are, but I need to label it as such and I can't buy it for more than twenty dollars a pint."

"You guys have quality control issues huh?" Brad asked. He was a business major in college and knew a few things about that from working in the restaurant business.

"You can't hide that sort of thing from a vampire. We can smell both long before we take a taste. Trying to pass blood off as something its not is beyond foolish," Janette warned. Brad smiled and agreed. Now there were about twenty mortals who supplied fresh blood to the Raven. Janette hoped that the number would increase as these young mortals spread the word. It was an easy way to make a little pocket money after all.

'Yes,' Janette thought. 'I will keep the Raven open. I hadn't looked forward to selling it, nor would I wish to learn what someone else would turn my club into. Then there are also the fledglings,' her thoughts turned to the fluctuating group of young vampires that slept in her basement. She had told Nicola once that she wasn't the maternal type. She had lied of course, the pain of her inability to become pregnant as a mortal had wounded her deeply, aside from the consequences to her mortal position in life. She had drowned her feelings by taking in fledglings and those just released from their master's care, giving the excuse to LaCroix that she was simply making sure that the young ones didn't bring down mortal hunters down on her head by being stupid. She had done that for a long time now.

But she no longer needed to excuse herself to anyone. LaCroix no longer ruled her and she answered to only one man, her king. He would certainly not object to her taking in a mortal child, nor would he do to her what LaCroix had done. The pain of losing young Daniel was still fresh, less than a century old. She had been so happy to have a child in her life at long last that she had forgotten who she was living with. Nicola had known and he had tried to save the boy. She had only wished that he had been successful. She had left after that, making her way to the Americas. She had wanted to see neither Nicola nor LaCroix, not that she blamed her brother for his actions. Once Daniel had been brought across by their master, it was the only thing that could have been done. Children do not survive becoming vampires. She had been grateful that Nicola had the strength to do what she could not.

It had always been so. Of all of the fledglings that LaCroix had made over the last thousand years that she had known him, only Nicola was able to stand up to him and defy him to his face. She had always been too frightened of him, although she had never understood Nicola's aversion to what he was, to what they were. She loved being a vampire. She only hoped that now, with the bond between them and LaCroix broken, Nicola would find the peace that he had sought for so long.

He seemed to be doing much better now, and surprisingly Dr. Lambert wasn't pushing him to continue her work either. That was for the best. Nicola loved her and it would be far better for her to accept him for who and what he was. In a way it was too bad that only the royal men could conceive children with a mortal woman. She knew that Nicola would make a wonderful father. Perhaps she could convince him to look for a child for her to adopt? Janette knew just how easy it would be for him to lose his heart to a child; just as hers would be the moment he brought her one. 'Yes,' she thought as she bound off the baby blanket. 'That would be for the best. A child for each of us to raise and companions for the heir as well.' She tucked the now finished blanket into the chest and went to get ready for bed. Tomorrow she had a stubborn knight to talk into helping her.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 23

Lucien LaCroix stalked through the newly restored gardens of Castle Vladislas deep in thought. He did not apologize, ever; at least not to anyone who was not an Enforcer or the King. It was simply not in his nature. He had never thought that his two favorite children would ever be placed on that very short list, but now he was faced with that very situation. Nicholas' temper tantrums over the centuries had been caused, not by his willfulness as Lucien had always assumed, but by Lucien's own carelessness in taking proper care of his son. If he had only looked deeper into why Nicholas had been so very uneasy around other vampires! 'If only wins no battles!' he reminded himself sharply.

LaCroix stormed to the top of the curtain wall and looked out over the forest that surrounded Castle Vladislas. It was as dark as any night he had ever seen. The only light to be seen came from the moon and stars. He could not even see a faint glow from the village. He was more than happy to ignore the fact that the village was even there. The presence of so many mortals only reminded him of his current difficulties. Nicholas had been obsessed with mortals for nearly three centuries now. Lucien wrenched his mind away from the mortals and turned his attention back to the problem facing him.

The only question was what form should his apology take? He most certainly would **NOT** simply tell Nicholas that he was sorry. He would not demean himself that way. There had to be some sort of gesture that he could make that would achieve the same result. Most of what he would think of as an appropriate gesture he knew that Nicholas would reject out of hand.

In some ways the fact that he knew he should also apologize to Janette was even worse. Janette was a fine daughter, a good vampire and had made a fine companion for centuries, but she was a woman. Lucian had never apologized to a woman, not once in his two thousand years. On the other hand, there was a gesture that he could make to her that would do and that he knew she would accept. It had been a mistake to turn the boy child she had asked to take in during WWII. It seemed that she had had plans for the boy that he had not been aware of. He had been nauseated with the way Nicholas and Janette had been playing house and parents to the boy, and had turned the child so as to return his household to normal. If he procured a child for her, one that she could once more do with as she saw fit, he would have to do nothing more. That still left the problem of Nicholas.

Although Lucien did not want to admit it, it was the rumors coming out of Toronto about his son that had him contemplating making an apology. It seemed that Nicholas had at long last given up his search for mortality. That meant that it was his treatment of his son that had driven Nicholas to such absurd lengths to escape him. He hadn't been careful enough with his son, and in doing so, had lost him forever; unless he could find a way to show that he regretted his actions. It was only this small possibility that had him even contemplating making the apology.

Where he could easily get a child, no an infant, with the new queen pregnant that would suit things better, for Janette, he had only a few ideas about what to do for Nicholas. The directors of the orphanages in this country were easy to bribe and he would be able to send Janette an infant in a matter of days. Dr. Lambert, on the other hand, already had as much funding for her research as she would ever need now that vampires were public knowledge.

That woman was the one that Nicholas had fallen in love with, something that could easily torment Lucien's undead heart if he let it. The king had put an end to their agreement, so there would be no repayment for his beloved Fluer's life. No matter what other's thought, he knew that before now Nicholas had never truly been in love before. He marched down the stairs to the flower gardens that he had ordered replanted. There was a white rose against one wall. He paused there, gently touching one of the closed flowers. Could he let her memory go unavenged?

It would be the smart thing to do, he knew that. He also knew the odds against his survival if he did not. Lucien LaCroix had not been a top ranking general for the Roman Empire because he bought his way into the position. He simply had a hard time letting go of the idea. It had been the only thing that had kept him going on many occasions over the last eight hundred years. Any time another woman had caught his attention, the memories had overwhelmed him, and he had taken his grief and anger out on Nicholas. It wasn't like he had romanticized her memory either, vampires had perfect recall. He could smell her scent, recall her words, even remember the feel of her soft hand any time he wished.

It was that memory that had caused Lucien to look after Fluer's descendants over the centuries. Nicholas had tried, but he had made certain that it was he who would be the one that his Fluer's family could turn to. At least he had that comfort. Lucien stopped in his tracks and cursed. That was the gesture that would ensure his son's return; returning his family to him. LaCroix roared his fury into the night.

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"Should I worry that you seem to know the name of every clerk in every flower shop in Toronto?" Nick teased. Schanke scowled from his side of their desks, phone caught between his shoulder and his ear, and his hands working on a list on his desk. "It's called politeness, customer service and a rookie with a phone book Knight," he whispered. "Yes, four dozen roses, to be delivered to Dr. Natalie Lambert at the city morgue."

"Yes, at the morgue," Schanke confirmed.

"Because that's where she works," Schanke said rolling his eyes. The clerk's reaction of disbelief was one that he'd been getting all night since he'd started calling flower shops. It was no wonder that Nick had been so hesitant about ordering flowers for Nat, or the fact that he'd willingly traded his partner doing Don's paperwork for the job.

The fact that Nick had simply handed over a credit card and told him to order whatever hadn't surprised him. What did Nick know about ordering flowers anyway? That was a modern custom that he seriously doubted his partner had ever needed to take part in before. The fact that Nick had told him to simply get Nat all the roses he could, and hadn't so much as blinked at the prices, had him thinking that maybe the joke Nick had once told him about moving, (what had it been half a million? A million and a half? It had been something like that) from his savings to his checking account during that cult case hadn't been a joke after all.

"Knight, Schanke, Vetter! My Office!" Stonetree yelled. They put up what each of them were currently working on and filed into the captain's office. "Alright listen up. We've just had a credible threat against King Stephan."

While they were homicide cops, rather than major crimes, everyone knew that the three detectives were involved in the vampire community up to their necks. So being called into their captain's office for this threat was no surprise to them. It was also no surprise to the other detectives gathered in Stonetree's office that Knight had his cell phone out and was making a call almost before Stonetree had finished. "Janette, someone's made a threat against Stephan. I'll let you know when I have the details. For now, stay with the king and keep safe." Nick closed his phone and turned his attention to the other captain standing next to Stonetree. "What do we have?"

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Tracy Vetter let herself and her tagalong into her apartment. "Bathroom's through there," she pointed out for her fellow detective. Rather than follow Nick, Schanke and the major case detectives assigned to work with them down to the Raven so that they could get to know the major players among the local vampires, Detective Carpenter and Tracy had decided to head to her place to continue to go over the files of possible suspects. The back seat of her car was full of them, as was her arms. She went to put her armful down on her kitchen table and start a pot of coffee. If they had to stay up all day, she was going to need better than the sludge they had down at the station.

"HEY!" she heard, coming from the bathroom. Automatically she pulled her gun as she hurried into the living room. There she found Carpenter hauling a semi-naked young man out of the bathroom. "This guy was about to take a shower in your bathroom and he's covered in blood," the detective explained.

Tracy smirked. It seemed that Carpenter was going to get his first lesson on the Community right now. "Let him go Carpenter." She turned to what she figured was a fledgling. For some reason it was the younger members that tended to show up at her place. "Go ahead and finish your shower. Just remember the rules and there is o and a positive in the fridge if you're hungry."

"Thanks my lady," the vampire said, giving her an awkward bow before hurrying back into the bathroom.

Tracy turned to the bewildered detective. "If he was mortal, you'd be right to be suspicious, but he's not. My apartment is a sanctuary." She turned and led him to the kitchen.

"What's a sanctuary?" Carpenter asked. He sat down at the table and watched Vetter bustle around the kitchen. He wished that he had about half of her energy. "And what was that _my lady_ business about?"

Tracy paused in making a pot of coffee and glanced over her shoulder. "Nobody told you that I'm a lady in waiting to the Queen of the Vampires?" Carpenter shook his head slowly. "Well someone should have," she muttered. She switched the pot on to brew and went over to sit down at the table. "A sanctuary is basically a bolt hole. My place is one where vampires can get cleaned up, get a packet of blood and spend the day if they get caught out by the dawn. I get paid for it, either in money or information. We've gotten quite a few tips that way. It's mostly the younger ones that hangout here anyway, that and the occasional carouche. I'm all set up here with blood deliveries and my windows are covered with shutters and heavy blinds. They don't have to worry about sunlight and few mortals with homicidal intentions are going to go breaking into a cop's place."

Carpenter shook his head. "I'm going to get the rest of the files. When I get them all up here, you can tell me everything that I didn't get briefed on. I'm thinking that there's a lot of stuff that someone didn't consider important that I should know."


End file.
